Indian flag-bearer

·         On August 4, 2008 IOA president Suresh Kalmadi announced that Double trap silver medallist in the 2004 Athens Olympics Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore will be the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, beginning on August 8.

·         In the 2005 Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Melbourne, Rathore was a member of the winning team in double trap.

·         He also won the gold in the individual and team events at the 2005 Asian Clay Shooting Championships at Bangkok.

·         The gold in the individual event was the third consecutive one for Rathore after he struck it rich successively in 2003 and 2004.

·         All these achievements helped him clinch the Arjuna Award in 2003-2004 and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the highest sporting honour, in 2004-2005.

·         He is also a recipient of Padma Shri and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) - the first officer from the Indian Army below the rank of a brigadier to be awarded the title.