Mumbai: Wrestler Sushil Kumar has been nominated for the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honor, by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) along with his coach, Dronacharya awardee Yashvir Singh. The Federation has also recommended female wrestler Alka Tomar coach for the honor.
Sushil is the only Indian athlete of independent India to have two Olympic medals to his credit. His first medal, Bronze, came in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics and was followed by a Silver in 2012 London Games. Sushil is already a recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, which is the country’s highest sporting honor. His name was recommended for Padma Bhushan two years ago but was rejected.
Secretary of Wrestling Federation of India Vinod Tomar said, “All three names were recommended earlier last month for the honor.”
Sushil is also a World Championships gold-medalist, a two-time Commonwealth Games gold-medalist and four-time Commonwealth champion.
This development comes after the two-time Olympic medalist missed out on securing a berth in Men’s 74 kg Freestyle category to Narsingh Yadav at the recently concluded Rio Olympics. The category ultimately went unrepresented as Narsingh, who pleaded guilty of sabotage, was slapped with a four-year ban following a positive dope test.