Geetika Jakhar (born 18 August 1985) is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spo ...

. Geetika comes from a family of sportspersons. She got Arjuna Award - 2006. She is the only women wrestler in the history of Indian sports to be judged the Best Wrestler of the 2005 Commonwealth Games and also who won medals at Asian Games 2006 and 2014 respectively. Geetika is the first women wrestler being awarded with the Arjuna Award by Government of India in 2006. She is also a proud recipient of Bhim Award by government of Haryana. For her extraordinary achievements in the field of sports, the government of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

has appointed her to the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police in 2008.

Personal life and family

Geetika's father Satyavir Singh Jakhar was the sports officer in Hisar,

. She was inspired to take up wrestling by her grand father, Ch. Amar Chand Jakhar, an accomplished wrestler himself. She started wrestling at the tender age of 13, and was awarded the Bharat Kesari at the age of 15 by beating

Sonika Kaliraman Sonika Kaliraman is an Indian woman professional wrestler to win the title of Bharat Kesri in Bharat Kesri Dangal in 2001. She was a contestant on the popular reality show ''Bigg Boss ''Bigg Boss'' is an Indian reality television game sh ...

(daughter of renowned wrestler Chandgi Ram) the then bharat kesari in a Dangal held at

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

in 2000. She won the Bharat Kesari title for a consecutive 9 years from then on. She is married to Mr. Kamaldeep Singh Rana, who is working in Haryana public work department as an Executive Engineer.

Early career

Geetika was actively participating in sports at a school level with her focus being athletics. But the turning point came when her family moved from her native village Agroha to Hisar to provide a better education for her younger brother and her. In an attempt to competitively pursue athletics, her father had taken her to the

Mahabir Stadium Mahavir Stadium, built in 1972, is a multipurpose sports complex located in Hisar city of Haryana, India. It has second largest capacity in Haryana, after the Shah Satnam Ji Cricket Stadium in Sirsa which has a higher capacity of 35,000 spect ...

in Hisar but they returned disappointed without finding any coach. During this she went to the nearby wrestling hall hearing huge voice coming from hall as coaches guide their ward from outside of the mat with a loud voice, young Geetika was drawn to other girls practicing wrestling. She immediately fell in love with the sport and from October 1998, she chose wrestling as her sport, leaving athletics. It took her four months after discovering wrestling when she represented

at the 1999 National Games in

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a States and territories of India, state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It ...

and finished fourth. She became the youngest wrestler to win a gold medal in all editions of the 2001 National Championships: Sub-Junior, Junior and Senior - an admirable record that has yet to be broken. By this she completed her GOLDEN QUARTET.

1999

*Participated as youngest wrestler in National Games Imphal (

) at the age of 13 in 56 kg women freestyle and stood fourth. *Gold Medal at Haryana State Games held at Bhiwani; declared Best Women Wrestler of

2000

*Gold Medal at Sub -Junior National championship,

Talkatora Stadium Talkatora Indoor Stadium () is an indoor stadium located in New Delhi, India. The stadium has a capacity of 3035 people. The stadium is owned and managed by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC). The stadium complex also includes the Talkator ...

2001

*Gold Medal at Sub -Junior National Championship. *Gold Medal at Junior National Championship. *Gold Medal at Senior National Championship, Nedani,

*Gold Medal at National Games,

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Completed Golden Quartet lone wrestler to do so.

International career

Her international career began with her first appearance at the

2002 World Wrestling Championships The following are the final results of the 2002 World Wrestling Championships. The 36th Men's Freestyle Competition was held in Tehran, Iran, while the 47th Men's Greco-Roman Competition was staged in Moscow, Russia and the 15th Women's Competitio ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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2002

*Participated in

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

where she reached to quarter-finals . *Gold Medal at National Games,

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...

*Gold Medal at Senior National Championship.

2003

*Participated in

ATHENS Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

GREECE Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

where she reached quarterfinals. *Silver Medal at Senior

Asian Championship An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics * Asia ...

, New Delhi

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. *Gold Medal at Commonwealth Championship; London

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2005

*Silver Medal at Senior

, China. *Gold Medal at Commonwealth Championship; declared best wrestler of the tournament, first Indian women wrestler to get "Best Wrestler of Commonwealth Games" title. *Silver Medal at

held at Lithuania.

2006

*Silver Medal at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until th ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the c ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

biggest medal in wrestling at Asian games and 1st medal by Indian women wrestler.

2007

*Silver Medal at Commonwealth Championship,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. *Gold Medal at Senior National Championship. *Gold Medal at National Games,

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

*Participated in Senior Asian Championships, Bishkek,

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

2012

*Gold Medal at Senior National Championship.

2013

*Bronze Medal at Senior

2014

*Silver Medal at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 British Empire Game ...

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. *Bronze Medal at the

, Incheon,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Awards and honours

Bhim Award The Bhim Award is the highest sports honor given by the government of Haryana, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous coun ...

, 2003 - given to outstanding athletes from the state of Haryana, India *

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, on ...

- 2006 * Kalpana Chawla Excellence award for Outstanding Women, 2009. * Face of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao in Haryana. * Brand Ambassador of Digital Cashless Week (20-27 Feb 2017) in Hisar, Haryana.

References

External links

Profile
(provided by the UWW)
Official Facebook page of Geetika Jakhar

Official FILA page of Geetika Jakhar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakhar, Geetika 1985 births Indian female sport wrestlers Living people Asian Games medalists in wrestling Wrestlers at the 2006 Asian Games Wrestlers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Wrestlers at the 2014 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Sportswomen from Haryana Commonwealth Games medallists in wrestling 20th-century Indian women 20th-century Indian people Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Female sport wrestlers from Haryana Recipients of the Arjuna Award Asian Wrestling Championships medalists