Chandgi Ram

Chandgi Ram served in the Indian Army and worked as a schoolteacher before taking up competitive wrestling at the relatively late age of 21. In 1961 he won a national title in the Indian form of wrestling and retained it the following year. During the sixties he won many tournaments across India but it was not until 1970 that he made a mark on the international stage. At the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok he gained a surprise victory over Abolfazl Anvari of Iran in the final of the heavyweight division and gained an unexpected gold medal for India. Ram dropped down a weight class to compete at the 1972 Olympics but was quickly eliminated after losing his two bouts.

After retiring from competition he turned to coaching and took up a position as a Director of Sports in Haryana. He became an advocate of women’s participation in wrestling and his daughter Sonika followed in her father’s footsteps and represented India in freestyle wrestling at the 2006 Asian Games.

A recipient of both the Arjuna and Padma Shri Awards, India’s two premier sporting honours, he also had a brief Bollywood acting career and followed numerous other Olympians in the role of Tarzan on the big screen