KUMAR Vijay < Back  
Sport Shooting
CGA India   
Gender Men
Born 19 Aug 1985 in Harsor, IND
Height1.70 m
Human Interest
Sport Specific Information
Club / Team Himachal Pradesh: India
General Interest
Awards and honours He was flag bearer for India at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. (ndtv.com, 21 Jul 2014)

He was honoured with the Padmashree Award in 2013. (Twitter profile, 09 Mar 2014)

He won the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratan Award in 2012. (Twitter profile, 09 Mar 2014)

In 2006 he won the Arjuna Award, which is presented annually by the Indian government to the highest achieving Indian sportsperson. (himachal.us, 08 Feb 2010)
Sport Specific Information
Handedness Right
International Debut
Year 2005
Competing for India
Further Personal Information
Occupation Athlete, Police Officer
Languages English, Hindi, Punjabi
General Interest
Other information BREAK AND RETURN
After missing out on a spot for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, he decided to leave the national team. In 2017 he retired from the Indian Army to pursue his studies and then joined the Indian Police. He returned to competition in November 2021 with a view to competing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. "People were surprised when they saw me in the nationals event in November [2021]. They thought I had stopped shooting and I could hear their whispers in the stand while I was focusing on my target. That is when I decided to surprise them when I ended up securing the fourth position. [Returning to shooting] was always on my mind. I got engaged in training in the police department, which requires two to three years. Then came the COVID-19 outbreak and all the quota places for the 2020 Olympic Games were also filled up. So I decided to focus entirely on my police training and then come back to my sport again once the entire training period was over. My challenge was to start from zero again. After staying out of touch for four years, I simply did not think I would come back and beat everyone. I would love to be a coach later in my career, but for the next 10 years [speaking in 2022], I have no plans of quitting the sport. And definitely, the biggest goal right now would be to compete at the 2024 Games in Paris." (olympics.com, 11 Feb 2023; sportstar.thehindu.com, 26 Sep 2022; thebridge.in, 13 May 2022; timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 12 Apr 2022; hindustantimes.com, 07 Apr 2022)
Further Personal Information
Higher education Business Administration - Manav Rachna University: Faridabad, IND
General Interest
Injuries He injured his right shoulder during training six weeks before the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The injury continued to affect him in 2013. (indiatimes.com, 03 Aug 2013)

A case of chicken pox prevented him from competing at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. (olympics.com, 11 Feb 2023)
Memorable sporting achievement Winning silver in the 25m rapid fire pistol at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 25 May 2021)
Sport Specific Information
Why this sport? His senior officers noticed he was shooting well in army training and encouraged him to pursue the sport.
General Interest
Most influential person in career His parents. (olympics.com, 25 Mar 2021)
Ambitions To compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (olympics.com, 11 Feb 2023)
Milestones He became the first pistol shooter representing India to win a medal at the Olympic Games when he claimed silver in the 25m rapid fire event at the 2012 Games in London. (SportsDeskOnline, 21 Apr 2023; olympics.com, 11 Feb 2023)
Sport Specific Information
When and where did you begin this sport? He began shooting at an early age, and took up the sport seriously when he joined the Indian Army in 2001. Two years later he was transferred to the Army Marksmanship Unit to train professionally under Russian coach Pavel Smirnov.
Coach from which country? Russia