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What’s the story?
The much celebrated two-time Olympic medal winner and wrestler Sushil Kumar has been recommended for the Padma Bhushan award, India's third highest civilian honour.
Sushil Kumar’s coach, Yashveer Singh had recommended his name for the award. Yashveer said, "Sushil is one of the greatest wrestlers India has produced and it is only fitting that he is given the honour."
Sushil also confirmed the news, stating that his coach has applied for the award.
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In case you didn’t know
Although Sushil Kumar has already been honoured with the Padma Shri award in 2011, the Padma Bhushan award is a rank higher, and is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India. Sushil’s name was nominated for the award two years ago also but was rejected.
Other honorary awards received by the wrestler include the Arjuna Award and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, which is the highest sporting honour in the country.
The heart of the matter
The wrestler is the only Indian athlete, to have won two Olympic medals i.e., a silver and a bronze medal. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Sushil Kumar beat Leonid Spiridonov 3-1 to win bronze and in the 2012 London Olympics, Sushil managed to win the silver medal, after losing the final to Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu.
He won both the medals in 66-kg freestyle wrestling. Apart from the Olympics, Sushil also won gold at the 2006 Asian Games, 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games (CWG).
According to the coach, Yashveer Singh, Sushil Kumar’s legendary career and performances should be explanatory enough, as to why he is a deserving candidate for the Padma Bhushan.
What’s next?
The Padma Bhushan award recipients will get declared on the coming Republic Day, i.e., 26 January, 2018. Despite the numerous and highly revered achievements, Sushil Kumar has no plans to stop wrestling anytime soon.
Author’s take
The Rio-Olympic silver-medalist PV Sindhu, who recently became the first Indian shuttler to lift the Korea Open Super Series title, and Indian cricketer and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, have also been nominated this year for the prestigious Padma Bhushan award, along with Sushil Kumar.
With so many deserving candidates on the list for Padma Bhushan, it will be exciting to see who actually gets it.
