Olympics 2020: Know silver medallist Ravi Kumar Dahiya's career highlights in photos

When Mirabai Chanu won silver for weightlifting on the very second day of the Tokyo Olympics 2020, it seemed that Indian athletes were ready to create some history at the Games. Ravi Kumar Dahiya's win against Kazakhstan wrestler Sanayev Nurislam ensured a silver medal for the country. The star from Nahri village of Haryana defeated him by fall to advance to the finals and made the Indian wrestling proud again. This is the motivational story of Ravi Kumar, the boy from Nahri who rose to the Olympic Podium. With seven medal winners, India had the best medal tally in its history of the Games.

Ravi Kumar Dahiya was born in 1997 and hails from the village of Nahri in Sonipat district, Haryana. The state churned out some of the best sportspersons including Olympics 2020 bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, the Phogat sisters and Yogeshwar Dutt.

It was no surprise that Dahiya too would come out as best.

Ravi Kumar Dahiya is the latest find who now has an added feather of being an Olympic medallist.

Wrestling runs in Dahiya's blood. Ravi Kumar's father used to wrestle in youth, but he was more impressed by his uncle Rajesh Dahiya's muscular build who is currently serving as the Assistant Commandant in BSF Rajasthan.

The economic calamities of his family held Ravi Kumar back from pursuing a wrestling career. He used to help his parents in their work because of financial troubles.

Knowing his son's passion for wrestling, Ravi Kumar's father Rakesh Dahiya worked extremely hard to help him build a professional wrestling career. He would travel long kilometers every day from their village to the Chhatrasal stadium to deliver fresh milk and fruits, which were part of his wrestling diet, for more than a decade.

Ravi Kumar joined the Chhatrasal Academy, a place that produced legendary Indian wrestlers like Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt.

Ravi Kumar's major career breakthrough happened in 2015 when he won the silver medal in the 2015 Junior World Wrestling Championships at Salvador de Bahia in the 55kg freestyle category.

His career just began and he met with an injury. Ravi Kumar suffered a knee injury in 2017, just before the semifinals of the Senior Nationals.