Prez felicitates Maj Poonia for winning seven medals

Poonia was felicitated at Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 6.

He won two Gold medals in Powerlifting and 800 mt race and five Silver medals in 400 mt race, 1,500 mt race, 5,000 mt race, cross country race and Pentathlon, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesman said in a statement today.

Over 2,300 athletes from 47 countries participated in 22 Olympic sports in Antalya in July.

Poonia is serving as a Medical Officer in the President's Bodyguard. This is the third time that he has won medals at this international Championship.

Last year he had participated in world championship in Las Palmas, Spain and won two gold, two silver and one bronze medals.

This year, he was awarded 'Vishisht Seva Medal' by the President for outstanding performance in sports.

He is also a qualified paratrooper (123 jumps) and has served in Para Special forces in J&K and Jodhpur.

Poonia belongs to a Rajpura village in Sikar district of Rajasthan. He did schooling in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya and completed his MBBS degree from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune.