| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kaimla, Karnal district, Haryana, India |
| Occupation | Rower |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  India |
| Service/ |  Indian Army |
| Years of service | 2018–present |
| Rank | Sepoy |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Rowing |
| Coached by |
|
Balraj Panwar OLY (born 26 July 1999) [1] is an Indian rower from Kaimla, Haryana. [2] He competes in the men's single sculls. He qualified to represent India at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in the men's single sculls [3] [4] [5] and finished 23rd.
Panwar was born in Kaimla village, Gharaunda subdivision, Karnal, Haryana. [6] His father Randhir Panwar died when he was 10 and his mother Kamala Panwar brought him up and four other siblings by doing odd jobs like picking vegetables, selling milk, working at construction sites or shred wheat. [6] She also worked at a garment factory. [7] He is married and has one child. He joined Indian Army as a sepoy to support his family financially. He was first posted at the Bengal Engineering Group. [8] He is preparing for the Olympics at the Army Training Node at Pune from October 2021. [6] [7] He is training under National coach Ismail Baig and 2008 Olympian Bajrang Lal Takhar. [6]
Panwar won a bronze medal at the Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualification rowing competition in Chungju, South Korea on 21 April 2024 to book India's first Olympic quota in rowing for the 2024 Paris Olympics. [9] [2] He was leading until the first 1600 metres in the 2 km race, but lost time in the last 500 metres. But his early lead helped him qualify for the Olympics. [6]
Earlier, he missed the bronze medal at the 2022 Asian Games [3] after qualifying for the final. [10] As a second reserve, he was a last-minute participant at the Asian Games. [6] He also took part in the World Championship at Switzerland before Asian Games in July 2023. [7] In the army, he was picked up for rowing because of his 6-foot height and winning the battalion regatta in his first attempt. [7] Earlier, he took part in the 2022 National Games and 2023 National Championship. [11]
Bajrang Lal Takhar is an Indian rower from Sikar, Rajasthan. He won the first individual rowing Gold medal for India at the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou. He is a retired Naib Subedar in the Rajputana Rifles regiment of the Indian Army. He was awarded by Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, by the Government of India in 2013.
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Sawarn Singh is an Indian rower. He primarily competes in single scull events. In 2011 he won bronze at the Asian Rowing Championships. He qualified for 2012 Summer Olympics in Men's single scull event and reached the last 16 with a time of 7:00.49 in the first repechage. The 21-year-old Sawarn Singh Virk secured his spot in the London Olympics by winning his event at the FISA Olympic Continental Qualification Regatta for Asia in Chung Ju, Korea. London Olympics was the maiden Olympics appearance for the Jharkhand National Games gold medallist. He won the 2013 Asian Championships, and won bronze at the 2014 Asian Games. He won the gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games in Men's Quadruple sculls.
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Lok Kwan Hoi is a Hong Kong rower. He won the gold medal in the Men's lightweight single sculls at the 2014 Asian Games. He also compete in the men's lightweight double sculls at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Leung Chun Shek.
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Subedar Major Neeraj Chopra is an Indian track and field athlete. Considered as the greatest Indian javelin thrower, he's a double medalist at the Olympics, World Championships, and the Asian Games. He won the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics, becoming the first Asian javelin throw athlete to do so. He became the first Asian to win the javelin gold medal at the World Athletics Championships after his win in 2023. Chopra has won gold medals in every major tournament. He has a streak of having a podium finish in 23 consecutive competitions, dating back to 2020. Since his 2016 performance, he holds the junior javelin throw world record with 86.48 m.
Saiyidah Aisyah Mohamed Rafa’ee, commonly known as Aisyah, is a Singaporean rower. She placed 23rd in the women's single sculls event at the 2016 Summer Olympics, making her Singapore's first Olympic rower.
India competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Originally scheduled to take place in July–August 2020, the games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Games marked the nation's 25th appearance at the Summer Olympics after having made its official debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics.
Parminder Singh is an Indian rower from Haryana, He was selected as part of the Indian team for the rowing competitions in the 2022 Huangzhou Asian Games. He was part of the team that won the bronze medal in the men's quadruple sculls.
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India competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, held from 26 July to 11 August 2024. The country made its debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics. Indian athletes have appeared at every edition of the Summer Olympic Games since 1920 and the Paris Games edition marked India's 26th appearance at the Summer Olympics.
India competed at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris from 28 August to 8 September 2024. The nation made its official debut at the 1968 Summer Paralympics and has appeared in every edition of the Summer Paralympics since 1984. This is India's 13th appearance at the Summer Paralympics.
The rowing competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris ran from 27 July to 3 August at the Stade nautique de Vaires-sur-Marne, National Olympic Nautical Stadium of Île-de-France in Vaires-sur-Marne. The number of rowers competing across fourteen gender-based categories at these Games was reduced from 526 to 502, with an equal distribution between men’s and women’s events. Despite the slight changes in athlete figures, the rowing program for Paris 2024 remained constant from the previous edition as the competition featured an equal number of categories for men and women, with seven each.
502 athletes qualified for rowing at the 2024 Summer Olympics. About two-thirds of the total quota was awarded to the National Olympic Committees, not to specific athletes, at the 2023 World Rowing Championships on 3 to 10 September in Belgrade, Serbia. The remainder of the total quota was attributed to the eligible rowers at each of the four continental qualification regattas in Asia and Oceania, the Americas, Africa, and Europe, and at the final Olympic qualification regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Rohit Kumar is an Indian professional rower. He won the bronze medal in the men's lightweight double sculls along with his partner Bhagwan Singh in the Asian Games 2018. He is also serving in the Indian Army
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Anita is an Indian para rower from Rajasthan. She qualified for the 2024 Summer Paralympics along with Narayana Konganapalle at the World Rowing Asian and Oceanian Olympic and Paralympic Qualification 2024. She won a silver medal in the PR3 mixed doubles sculls earlier, along with Narayana, at the 2022 Asian Para Games at Hangzhou, China.
Narayana Konganapalle is an Indian para rower from Andhra Pradesh. He qualified for the 2024 Summer Paralympics along with Anita in at the World Rowing Asian and Oceanian Olympic and Paralympic Qualification 2024. Earlier, he won a silver medal in PR3 mixed doubles sculls along with Anita at the 2022 Asian Para Games at Hangzhou, China.
