After Yogeshwar Dutt, Olympic medallist shooter Vijay Kumar to tie the knot
Yogeshwar Dutt, the London Olympics medallist in wrestling, has got married. Now, shooter Vijay Kumar, also a 2012 London Olympics silver medallist, will marry Priyanka Sharma, a school teacher, in Himachal Pradesh
It seems to be a wedding season for Olympic medallists. After Yogeshwar Dutt, now London 2012 Games silver medallist shooter Vijay Kumar is all set to tie the knot on January 22.
Vijay is all set to wed Priyanka Sharma, a school teacher. The two have known each other since a year and will be getting married in Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, according to indianshooting.com.
The 31-year-old Vijay is also getting retired from the Indian Army on February 28.
He had joined the Army in 2001 and in 2003 was attached to the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) where he was groomed to emerge as one of India’s best pistol shooter, who went on to win silver medal in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire pistol event at the 2012 London Olympics.
Vijay had won three gold and one silver medal in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, two gold medals at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, one gold and one bronze in 2006 Doha Asian Games, two bronze medals at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and also has two World Cup silver medals to his name.
Vijay was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2012 and Padma Shri in 2013.
Dutt’s bold stand
Meanwhile, Yogeshwar Dutt, the 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist, chose to take only a token Re 1 from his bride’s family ahead of his marriage on Monday. He is getting married to Sheetal Sharma, daughter of Haryana congress leader Jaibhagwan Sharma.
The reason for Yogeshwar Dutt’s decision is inspiring. His family had suffered as they had to cough up huge sums as dowry for the daughters’ marriage. Dutt, who saw his parents’ plight, vowed as a youngster that he will take a stand to ensure his bride’s family did not suffer.
“I saw my family struggle to collect dowry for the girls of the family,” said the 34-year-old Dutt, who got engaged at Murthal in Sonipat on Saturday. “As a result, I decided on two things while growing up — I will excel in wrestling and I will not accept dowry. I have realised my first dream and now it’s time to keep my second promise.”