Ashish Kumar: News

When someone thinks of Indians who have made their mark in sports, unsurprisingly a gymnast's name will never creep into their mind. In a country that worships cricket and has other sports vying for a distant second place, gymnastics has never come into the discussion. That changed when in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, a 20-year-old lad from Allahabad won India’s first-ever medal in gymnastics. Born on November 26, 1990, in Allahabad, Kumar first came into the spotlight with his performance in the 2006 Asian championships. At the tender age of 16, he won India’s first-ever medal in artistic gymnastics with a performance that earned him the bronze. It was, however, in the 2010 Commonwealth Games that he showed his true colors. With a bronze in the floor exercise followed up by silver on the vault, Kumar wrote history. The year 2010 was a successful one for Kumar as he underlined it with a bronze medal performance in the Asian Games. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2011. Four golds in the South Central Asian Gymnastics Championships in 2011 underlined Kumar’s status as an elite gymnast.