Who is Sushil Kumar?

Wrestler Sushil Kumar, who led the Indian contingent at the London Olympics 2012 and won a silver medal in the 66 kg freestyle wrestling event has been representing India since he was 18, but the country woke up to him when he finished with a bronze medal at the 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.

At the Beijing Games, Sushil had lost his opening bout. A large section of media wrote him off. An hour later Sushil got a reprieve as Ukrainian Andriy Stadnik, who beat him reached the finals. Stadnik's entry into the gold medal round, gave Sushil a passage into the Repechage, which meant he could fight for the bronze medal.

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. 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 also won gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

Sushil was India's flag bearer for the 2012 Olympics ahead of the likes of Abhinav Bindra, Vijender Singh and Leander Paes.