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Ajay Kumar Saroj was born on Thursday, 1 May 1997 (age 26 years; as of 2023) in Uttar Pradesh. His zodiac sign is Taurus. He hails from the village Kajiani, near Allahabad, in Uttar Pradesh. Apart from being an athlete, Ajay is employed at the Indian Railways under the sports quota.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 7″
Weight (approx.): 60 Kg
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
Ajay’s father’s name is Dharamraj, who is a plumber, and his mother, Rani Devi, is a homemaker. He has an elder brother named Ajit, who is a national-level runner and has won gold medals in national-level competitions in 800 m and 1500 m races. Ajay has two sisters named Shashi Devi and Shastri Devi who are national-level runners in 10,000 m and 5000 m races.
Wife
He is unmarried.
Caste
He belongs to the Pasi caste. Pasis are classified as Scheduled Caste in Uttar Pradesh.
Career
Ajay Kumar Saroj took up sports at a very young age and trained under his coach Jaswinder Bhatia.
Ajay Kumar Saroj with his coach Jaswinder Bhatia
He has participated and won many national and international championships. In 2016, he competed in the South Asian Games held in Guwahati, where he earned a gold medal and a silver medal in the 1500 m and 800 m races, respectively. He participated in the Asian Athletics Championships (2023) held in Bangkok, Thailand, in which he earned a gold medal with a time of 3 minutes 41.51 seconds in the 1500 m race event. In an interview, Ajay discussed the options that opened up for him after winning the gold medal at the Asian meet. He also spoke about his training and competitions. He said,
Winning the gold was a must for me in the Asian meet as it was my ticket to the World Athletics Championships. I underwent training in Colorado (US) from February 21 to May-end. After that, I participated in the inter-state athletic championship in India and won a silver medal. I knew that I would have to perform well in the Asian Athletics meet. Now, I will try to win a gold medal in the Olympics.”
Ajay Kumar Saroj at the Asian Athletics Championships (2023) held in Bangkok, Thailand
In October 2023, Ajay Kumar Saroj represented India at the 19th Asian Games (2022) held in Hangzhou, China, where he drew a silver medal in the men’s 1500 m race event.
Ajay Kumar Saroj with a silver medal at the Asian Games (2022)
Medals
Gold
- He won a gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships (2023) held in Bangkok, Thailand.
- Ajay drew a gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships (2017) held in Bhubaneswar.
- In 2017, he won a gold medal at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
Silver
- In 2023, he won a silver medal at the Asian Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar.
- He earned a silver medal at the Asian Games (2022) held in Hangzhou, China.
Bronze
- In 2013, he won a bronze medal in the 1500 m race at the Asian Youth Games held in Nanjing, China.
- In 2016, he won a bronze medal and a gold medal at the South Asian Games held in Guwahati.
Facts/Trivia
- Initially, he practised running for race events under the supervision of his father at the Meva Lal Inter college of his village.
- Since Ajay’s father had a limited income, Ajay used to borrow shoes and kits from his friends to participate in the race events.