Vijender Singh Kumar

Vijender Kumar, born 29th October 1985 is an Indian boxer from the Kaluwas village, Bhiwani district in Haryana. He became the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal when he won the bronze medal in the middleweight category at 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He used to box recreationally in his childhood and used to go to the Bhiwani Sports Authority of India center for boxing practice, this was where coach Jagdish Singh spotted his talent. Jagdish Singh is a boxing coach who trained four of five the boxer's India took to the Olympics. He also won a silver medal at the 2006 Commonwealth games in Melbourne for the Welterweight division. His father, Mahipal Singh, is a bus driver who worked overtime to raise funds for Vijender's training and his mother is a homemaker. His younger brother Manoj is also a boxer, but is now in the Indian Army. Vijender has also worked as a model in magazines to fund his boxing training. Vijender has become a national hero in India after winning his medal and has made several appearances on Indian TV. He has also worked as an inspector with Haryana police. He is tipped to make a Bollywood film because of his good looks, but he wants to concentrate on boxing and wants to make boxing on par with cricket as a popular sport in India. He also hopes to open a boxing academy in the future.