Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, born on January 29, 1970 in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan is an Indian Shooter. An Lt.Colonel with the Indian army, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore got a chance to represent India at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, after winning a bronze medal at the World Championship in Cyprus in 2003. He was conferred with the Arjuna award for his outstanding achievement in the National sport.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was trained by Russel Mark of Australia, a gold medalist of Atlanta Olympic and created a record by winning India’s first individual silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and was subsequently a recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honor. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won gold in the individual and team events in Men's Double Trap at the 2005 Asian Clay shooting Championship held at Bangkok. He was also the part of the Indian team who won the Double Trap event at the 2005 Commonwealth Shooting Championship, held at Melbourne.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore also won a gold medal in the Double Trap event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games held at Melbourne, Australia and teamed up with Vikram Bhatnagar, an Indian shooter, to win a silver medal in the Men’s Double Trap (Pairs), in the same tournament. In the months that followed, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore participated in the Asian Games held at Doha, Qatar and won bronze in the Double Trap event where he teamed up with Vikram Bhatnagar and Ranjan Sodhi.
For is bravery in war field, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was honored with the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM), a non-gallantry award for exceptional service, by the Government of India. He is also a recipient of the civilian honor of Padma Shri.
Fondly called ‘Chilly’, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has been awarded the ‘Sword of Honour’ by the Indian Military Academy. He is married to Dr. Gayatri and has been the poster boy of Indian Shooting since 2004. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore finished 15th in the qualification round in the Men's Double Trap event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was chosen to be the flag bearer for India at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
