OGQ to Support Sushil Kumar for Glory at Rio 2016
Not for Profit organisation Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) today announced that it will be supporting double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar as he aims for a Gold medal at the Rio Olympics 2016 and his third Olympic medal. Sushil Kumar will be also a Special Advisor to the OGQ Board on Wrestling and he will help OGQ identify and support talented young wrestlers. Sushil is the only Indian athlete to win two individual Olympic medals and he also won the World Championship in 2010. With this, OGQ now supports two wrestlers including Parveen Rana who fights in the 74kg free style category.
Viren Rasquinha, CEO, OGQ:
“Sushil is an icon and we are really excited to get the opportunity to work closely with him. I’ve watched him in training and his talent, intensity and enthusiasm even today after winning two Olympic medals shows what a wonderful role model he is. Wrestling is a contact sport and injuries are numerous. The world class medical team of OGQ will ensure that he remains injury free and in peak fitness for Rio 2016. We will also utilise his experience, expertise and knowledge to support some young wrestlers for the future.”
Sushil Kumar:
“OGQ has sports legends like Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone at the helm and I am very honoured to be part of this team that is creating Olympic champions for India. My target is to win the Gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics and I know that I need to work twice as hard and carefully plan my training schedule for the next 3 years. This is where I would require OGQ’s support with special focus on physiotherapy and medical support. I am also delighted to advise OGQ on upcoming Wrestling talent and to ensure that our talented wrestlers get the right kind of support.”
Prakash Padukone, Director, OGQ:
“Sushil won a bronze at the Beijing Olympics and a Silver at the London Olympics and now I believe that OGQ can help take his performance to the next level and win the Gold at the Rio Olympics. We are very lucky to have Sushil as an advisor on Wrestling. He has more than a decade of experience and he has inspired a new generation of young kids to take up wrestling and dream big.”
Coming from a modest family in Najafgarh, Sushil Kumar started training at the age of 14 and became a state champion within 4 years. In 1998, he won gold at the World Cadet Games. He went on to win his next gold in the Asian Junior Wrestling Championship in 2000. In 2003, he finished with a bronze at the Asian Wrestling Championships. He followed it up with a Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2004. He came into the eyes of nation as a golden hope in wrestling when he won the Bronze at Beijing Olympics in 2008. He became only the second Indian wrestler after Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, who had won a bronze for India in 1952 at the Helsinki Games, to win an Olympic medal. He is the first Indian to win back to back individual Olympic medals when he won the silver medal at the London Olympics.