Yogeshwar Dutt was born on November 2, and this year on Friday, the celebrated wrestler will be celebrating his 36th birthday. It is heartening to see a wrestler rise from rags-to-riches with sheer hard work and compassion towards a sport, and his country. Yogeshwar Dutt is fondly called as ‘Yogi’ and ‘Pahalwan Ji’ by his fans and fellow mates.

The freestyle wrestler has brought many laurels to the country in his glorious career. Yogeshwar won his first medal (Gold) for India in 2003 Commonwealth Championship in London in 55 kg freestyle category. Since then the wrestler has come a long way.

As Yogeshwar Dutt celebrates his 36th birthday, today, we bring you a list of facts associated with him.

1. Yogeshwar Dutt was born on November 2, 1982in Bhainswal Kalan village in Sonepat district in Haryana.

2. Not many know that Yogeshwar Dutt lost his father only a week before he headed to 2006 Asian Games in Doha. Battling a knee injury and fighting the mental block, Yogi went on to win the Bronze medal in the event.

3. Yogeshwar Dutt’s next major success came during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. The 6’2 ft wrestler overcame all the odds and win the Gold medal in 60 kg freestyle category, overcoming a career-threating knee injury.

4. Yogeshwar Dutt scripted history when the wrestler won a Bronze medal at 2012 Summer Olympics in Rio. He became the third Indian wrestler, after KD Jadhav in 1952 and Sushil Kumar in 2008, to win an Olympic medal.

5. The meteoric rise of Yogeshwar Dutt continued. Yogi won a Gold medal at 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow in 65 kg freestyle category. It was an emphatic victory for the Indian wrestler who won the final match against his opponent by 10-0.

6. The golden year continued for Yogi as he won another Gold medal, this time at 2014 Asian Games at Incheon. He won this medal in 65 kg freestyle category too.

7. Yogeshwar Dutt has received a lot of awards and recognitions over the years. In 2012, he was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by Government of India. In 2013, he was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri award too.

Yogeshwar Dutt has been quite vocal on social media and doesn’t mince words while speaking his mind. It is delighting to see an Indian wrestler scale such illustrious heights in their career. On his 36th birthday, we at LatestLY, wish him success in all future endeavours!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 02, 2018 03:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).