Bajrang Punia won a bronze medal for India at the Tokyo Olympics last year.
File image of Bajrang Punia wearing the bronze medal around his neck after defeating Daulet Niyazbekov in the men’s 65 kg category during Tokyo Olympics. AP
Olympian Bajrang Punia turns 28 today, 26 February. The freestyle wrestler, who won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year, was born in Khudan village of Haryana’s Jhajjar district. He is the only Indian to have won three World Wrestling Championship medals till date.
Punia began wrestling when he was only seven years old. His father, a former wrestler himself, encouraged him to pursue the sport. His family later moved to Sonepat in 2015 so the freestyle wrestler could train at the regional centre of the Sports Authority of India.
For his achievements, the 28-year-old has been conferred with several awards including the Padma Shri, Arjuna Award and the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna.
On his special day, here is all you need to know about Bajrang Punia:
― His first major tournament was the Asian Wrestling Championship held in New Delhi in 2013. Punia won a bronze medal at the tournament after he lost to North Korea’s Hwang Ryong-hak in the men’s freestyle 60-kg category.
― He was also awarded the bronze medal in the 2013 World Wrestling Championship.
― In the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow, the Olympian clinched the silver medal in the men’s 61-kg category.
― After a poor finish at the 2015 World Wrestling Championship, Punia bounced back with a gold medal in the 2017 Asian Wrestling Championship.
― The wrestler also clinched the gold medal in the men’s freestyle 65-kg category at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as well as the 2018 Asian Games.
― Puni won the silver medal at the World Wrestling Championship in 2018 and 2019, making him the only Indian to achieve three medals at the prestigious tournament.
― The 28-year-old married fellow wrestler Sangita Phogat in 2020.
― In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Punia was one of the eight wrestlers to represent India. He clinched the bronze medal on 7 August last year after defeating Kazakhstan’s’ Daulet Niyazbekov 8-0.
― Bajrang Punia will compete at the Yasar Dogu Ranking Series in Istanbul this year. It is his first tournament after the Tokyo Olympics.
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