Sushil Kumar fact file - Know your Champion
- Sushil Kumar‘s father Diwan Singh was a bus driver and a pehelwan himself.
- Sushil Kumar’s inspiration to take up wrestling were his father and his cousin Sandeep.
- For Sushil, Sandeep quit wrestling because the family could support only one wrestler.
- Sushil Kumar stayed and trained at Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi since the age of 14.
- At the stadium, there were 20 people sharing a room and 2 on a bed, giving away Rs. 1000-1500 on food and lodging, depending on the size of the room.
- A vegetarian, Sushil used to get cans of milk, tins of ghee and a container of freshly cooked vegetables from home every day, despite the poor financial situation of the family and lack of funding.
- Sushil Kumar currently holds the post of Assistant Commercial Manager at Indian Railways.
- He was trained at the akhada by pehelwans Yashwir and Ramphal, Arjuna awardee Satpal later, and at Railways camp by coach Gyan Singh.
- His first success came when he won Gold at the World Cadet Games in 1998.
- Sushil Kumar is the first Indian athlete to win back to back medals in individual events at Olympics.
- He is the 2005 Arjuna Awardee and 2008 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardee (joint).
- After the success at the Commonwealth Games, Sushil decided to settle down on the personal front. He got married to his longtime girlfriend Savi, who is the daughter of his coach Satpal Singh, a former Asian Games gold medallist.
- At the turn of 2012, Sushil was forced to change his fighting style with not much time left for the Olympics. Sushil trained at the US Olympic Centre in Colorado Springs in January to make some changes.
“Every wrestler has to change his style and technique regularly. It helps to keep the opponent guessing. Change was badly needed. My opponents are watching my videos everyday and they can easily analyse my fighting technique. It is important to change style regularly. It was a tactical decision and I hope it will work at the Olympics,” Sushil had said.
- The wrestler finally bagged his ticket to London after winning the gold in the 66kg event at the World Qualifying Tournament, which was the last qualifying meet for the London Games.
Check out list of laurels he’s brought to the country:
| Men’s Freestyle Wrestling | ||
|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | ||
| Silver | 2012 London | 66 kg |
| Bronze | 2008 Beijing | 66 kg |
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | 2010 Moscow | 66 kg |
| Commonwealth Championship | ||
| Gold | 2003 London | 60 kg |
| Gold | 2005 Cape Town | 66 kg |
| Gold | 2007 London | 66 kg |
| Gold | 2009 Jalander | 66 kg |
| Commonwealth Games | ||
| Gold | 2010 Delhi | 66 kg |
| Asian Championships | ||
| Gold | 2010 New Delhi | 66 kg |
| Silver | 2007 Kyrgyzstan | 66kg |
| Bronze | 2003 New Delhi | 60 kg |
| Bronze | 2008 Jeju Island | 66 kg |