Rajinder Singh Rahelu

Rajinder Singh Rahelu
Personal information
Nationality Indian
Born (1973-07-22) 22 July 1973
Mehsampur, Jalandhar district
Residence Mehsampur, Jalandhar district
Height 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in)
Sport
Country  India
Sport Paralympic powerlifting
Coached by Vijay B Munishwar (national coach)
Medal record
Powerlifting
Paralympic Games
2004 Athens Men's 56 kg
IWAS World Games
2007 Taipei Men's 56 kg
Asian Bench Press Championship
2002 New Delhi Men's 56 kg
Commonwealth Games
2014 Glasgow Men's Heavyweight (from 72.1 kg)

Rajinder Singh Rahelu (born 22 July 1973) is an Indian Paralympic powerlifter. He won a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in the 56 kg category. He represented India at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, finishing fifth in the final standings. Arjuna Award recipient, Rahelu, represented India at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom; he failed in all his three attempts at 175 kilograms (386 lb).[1][2]

Personal life

Rahelu was born on 22 July 1973 in Mehsampur village, Jalandhar district, Punjab, in a poor Kashyap rajput family.[3][4][5] He is the youngest of five siblings, with two older brothers and two older sisters.[6][7] His father, Rattan Singh, worked as a bandmaster, and his mother was a maid. Rahelu is suffering from infantile paralysis. He contracted polio when he was eight months old.[4] He is married to Jaswinder Kaur and has a daughter named Ridhima.[8]

Powerlifting

After finishing higher secondary education, Rahelu chose not to continue his education further.[7] He decided to pursue powerlifting following encouragement from his friend Surinder Rana, who himself is a powerlifter, in 1996.[6] He lifted 70 kg on his first bench press attempt and within six months he was able to lift 115 kg.[7] He won his first ever title in powerlifting in 1997 at the Punjab Open Meet. In August 1998, he won National Powerlifting Championship held in Hyderabad.[4][9]

Rahelu competed in the 56 kg category at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece. He finished fourth in the final standings after lifting a total weight of 157.5 kg. However, this position was later upgraded to a third-place after Syrian lifter Youseff Younes Cheikh, bronze medallist of the event, was disqualified due to doping.[10][11] In doing so, he won the first ever medal for India in the powerlifting event of the Paralympics.[12] In 2006, he was conferred by the President of India the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting award.[4]

Rahelu was one of the two Indian competitors at the 2008 Summer Paralympics. He participated in the powerlifting event.[13] He managed to lift a total load of 170 kg putting him at position fifth, behind Polish Mariusz Tomczyk, out of thirteen contenders in the final.[14] Rahelu won silver in 2014 Commonwealth Games, with a total lift of 185 kg.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Agnihotri Chaba, Anju (22 August 2012). "Challenging disability, and winning". The Indian Express. Jalandhar. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  2. ↑ "Men's -67.50 kg – Results" (PDF). llondon2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  3. ↑ "Athletes – Rajindersingh Rahelu". llondon2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Bhardwaj, Meha (28 August 2006). "Polio-afflicted wins Arjuna Award". Jalandhar: CNN-IBN. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  5. ↑ Agnihotri Chaba, Anju (28 August 2012). "Punjab's only paralympian left to fend for self; denied aid, leave". The Indian Express. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  6. 1 2 Chandel, Himani (11 October 2010). "Rajinder Rahelu Wheeling his way to success". The Tribune. New Delhi. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 Duggal, Saurabh (1 September 2006). "Flying high on broken bones". The Hindustan Times. Chandigarh. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "Powerlifting – India – Singh Rahelu Rajinder". ipc.infostradasports.com. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  9. ↑ "Senior National Powerlifting Championship held since 1975 under the authority of Indian P/L Federation". indianpowerliftingfederation.org. Indian Powerlifting Federation. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "Athens 2004 Paralympic Games – Powerlifting – Men's up to 56 kg" (PDF). paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Rajinder Singh wins bronze". The Hindu. Bangalore. 1 October 2004. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "Athlete Search Results – India". paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  13. ↑ "Participation Numbers – Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games – Powerlifting" (PDF). paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  14. ↑ "Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games – Powerlifting – Men's up to 60 kg" (PDF). paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  15. ↑ "Commonwealth Games 2014: Rajinder Rahelu Wins Silver in Powerlifting, Sakina Khatun Gets Bronze". NDTV. Aug 3, 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
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