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Rediff.com  » Sports » Rathore, Kumble among Padma Shri winners

Rathore, Kumble among Padma Shri winners

By rediff.com Sportsdesk
January 25, 2005 21:18 IST
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Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and India's highest wicket-taker in Test cricket Anil Kumble are among five sportspersons who have been selected for the Padma Shri award.

The others are former All-England badminton champion Pullela Gopichand, former Olympic athlete Gurbachan Singh Randhawa and skydiver Rachel Thomas.

Randhawa won the decathlon gold at the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games. He also reached the final of the 110 metres hurdles and the javelin at the same Games, finishing fifth in both events.

His biggest moment came when he finished fifth in the 110 metres hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.

Kumble had a remarkable year in 2004, emerging as the top wicket taker in Tests with a haul of 74 wickets at 24.84. He also became India's highest wicket taker in Tests when he surpassed Kapil Dev's decade-old record of 434 wickets.

Rathore kept the Indian flag flying at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, when he won a silver medal in the men's double-trap shooting.

The 34-year-old army major's score of 179 (135 in qualifying and 44 in the final round) gave him the silver medal, India first individual silver ever at the Olympics.

Gopichand, who won the All England Badminton Championships in 2001, was also honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2001.

Rachel Thomas is India's first and only civilian woman skydiver. She is the first Indian woman skydiver to step on the North Pole, jumping from over 67,000 feet at a temperature of minus 45 degrees celsius.

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