Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore , Indian Shooter

India is such a country that has always been producing a large number of talented sportspersons and athletes. In the field of shooting, India`s recent talent has been found in the name of Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore who won India`s first individual silver medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Born in January 29,1970 in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. His father is a Col. of the Indian Army named Col. Laxman Singh Rathore and his mother Manju Rathore is a teacher. Though he is named as `Chilly` at home, according to his parents, he is a soft-spoken and down to earth person.

Though he is famous as a shooter, the world`s third best double trap shooter was a very good cricketer in his childhood. He was such a good player that he was about to get a chance in the Madhya Pradesh state cricket team for the famous Ranji Trophy in India. He was only in class 10 at that time. His mother discouraged him to go for cricket, as she was afraid about his study. Anyway, eventually he was not selected for the team and he appeared in the National Defense Academy examination. He qualified for the army.

After becoming an army personal, Rathore continue to show his talent in the Indian Army as well. When he was a Major of the army, he received the `Sword of Honour` from Indian Military Academy in 1990. He fought bravely against the separatist militants in Indian-administered Kashmir in Kargil War in the year of 1999. He seriously took up shooting in 1998, only a year before the war. He got married to an army doctor, Dr. Gayatri in the same year. At present he is a Lt. Colonel in the Indian Army.

He got the chance to compete in the Olympics, 2004 after he won a bronze medal at the World Championship in Cyprus. He took training in Europe to the Atlanta Olympic gold medallist Russel Mark of Australia. His event in the Olympics was the Men`s Double Trap. He was the member of the winning team in the double trap event in the Commonwealth Shooting Championships, 2005 held in Melbourne. He also won the gold in the individual and team events in Men`s double trap at the 2005 Asian Clay Shooting championships at Bangkok. With the gold in the individual event, he completed a hat trick at the annual events, as he was the champion in 2003 and 2004 as well.

The Government of India awarded him the `Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award`, the highest sporting honour of India in 2004-2005 for his extraordinary performance in the `Olympic Games`. He won the `Ati Vishisht Seva Medal` (AVSM), an award for exceptional service, presented by the government. By winning this award, he became the first officer from the Indian Army below the rank of Brigadier to be awarded the AVSM. He was also honoured by the `Arjuna Award` in 2003-2004. He is a recipient of the `Padma Shri`, a very honorary civilian award from the Government of India. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has been the poster boy of Indian shooting ever since he won the first individual Olympic silver medal for India in the 2004 Athens Games. Rajyavardhan Rathore has escalated such an event that tests both skill and reflexes. The most acclaimed sports star in recent times still has much to gain. However, though there were a lot of expectations from the Indian sports enthusiasts for his success, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore failed to win a medal in the Beijing Olympics, 2008.

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