Randhir Singh becomes first Indian to be elected President of Asian Olympic Council

Randhir Singh has become the first Indian to become President of the Asian Olympic Council. His tenure will begin in 2024 and will be up to 2028. He won a gold medal in the 1978 Asian Games and represented five Olympic Games. In the 44th General Assembly, held on Sunday, veteran sports administrator and 1978 Asian Games gold medalist shooter Randhir Singh was declared unanimously elected as the first Indian President of the Asian Olympic Council. Randhir Singh became the first Indian shooter when he captured a gold medal at the 1978 Asian Games held in Bangkok. He was the only candidate to have come forward to contest for the post.

He was elected as the OCA chief amidst a galaxy of dignitaries including Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and top sports leaders from all 45 countries of Asia. Having enjoyed a glorious sporting career spanning more than two decades in shooting, Singh has been serving several sports bodies including the Indian Olympic Association and the Indian Olympic Council. The 77-year-old sports legend originally hails from Patiala in Punjab. He was born into a sportsperson family. His uncle Maharaja Yadavindra Singh played Test cricket for India and later was an IOC member while his father Bhalendra Singh was a first-class cricketer and later IOC member between 1947 and 1992.

Singh consequently went on to pursue a career in sports after having achieved his graduation degree in History from Delhi University. Having tried his hand at shooting, golf, swimming, squash, and cricket as also during his childhood and teenage years, he decided to concentrate on shooting and make a career in the sport. He thus competed in five editions of the Olympics between 1968 and 1984, second only among Indians to do so. Apart from that, he participated in the Asian Games four times from 1978 to 1994. He won individual gold in trap shooting in 1978, individual bronze in trap shooting in 1982, and a team silver in 1986. He also represented his nation in the 1978 Commonwealth Games held in Edmonton, Canada. Singh was awarded the Arjuna Award as well as the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award in 1979 for an epoch-making sporting career.