Bajrang Punia in wrestling semis at Tokyo Olympics: All you need to know: Age, Family, Medals, World ranking

1. Age, Place of birth

Bajrang is a 27-year-old wrestler from India. He was born on Sonipat, Haryana, the spiritual home of Indian wrestling over the years. It is no stretch of imagination to say that Bajrang has wrestling in his blood.

2. Family — Bajrang’s parents, wife etc

Like many other wrestlers from the region, Bajrang too was born in a family that struggled to make both ends meet. As a child, Bajrang wanted to be a sportsperson but did not have enough money to buy sporting equipment. So, he took to less expensive sports like wrestling, kabaddi with the former eventually becoming his main trade. His father Balwan Singh too was a wrestler in his young age, and did not discourage his son’s ambitions despite the financial crunch at home His mother Om Pyari is a homemaker. Bajrang is married to women wrestler Sangeeta Phogat.

3. Career of Bajrang

This is Bajrang’s first appearance in Olympics despite being around from 2013. His first medal of note was a bronze in Asian Wrestling Championship in 2013 as a 19-year-old. In the same year, Bajrang won a bronze in World Championship held in Budapest, Hungary. But his run to the top started in 2017 when he won began to win several medals including gold in a variety of tournaments. Bajrang also remains the only Indian wrestler to win medals in two successive wrestling World Championship.

4. Medal history

Gold medals: Asian Games, Jakarta (2018), Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast (2018), Asian Championships (2017, 2019), Commonwealth Wrestling Championships (2016, 2017), Asian Indoor Championship (2017).

Silver medals: World Championship (2018), Asian Games, Incheon (2014), Commonwealth Games, Glasgow (2014), Asian Championships (2014, 2020, 2021).

Bronze medals: World Championship (2013, 2019), Asian Championships (2013, 2018).