Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is an army officer turned Olympic medallist, turned politician. He was born on January 29, 1970, in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. His father served in the army, Rajyavardhan himself served till the rank of a Colonel and Rathore’s wife too is a part of the army, as a doctor. Though the timespan he spent on each of these professions is not too long, Rathore has managed to make a mark in each of them.

While still serving in the Indian Army, Col. Rathore represented India internationally at shooting events. He won a vast number of medals at these international meets, such as World Shooting Championships, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the 2004 edition of the Olympic Games held at Athens, Greece. His event was Double Trap, for which the shooter won 25 medals internationally. Apart from the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent at the Olympics, Rathore was also presented with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for the pride he brought back home.

Once he had retired from the army, he contested elections on behalf of the Bharatiya Janta Party from the Jaipur Rural Constituency. Here too, he won the competition – he emerged successful in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.