Udey Chand

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Udey Chand (born 25 June 1935) is a retired Indian wrestler and wrestling coach from Hisar, Haryana. He started his career with the Indian Army and stands 5 ft 9 in tall. He became the first Indian to win a medal at the World Wrestling Championships, earning bronze in the 67 kg freestyle category at Yokohama in 1961. That same year, he received India’s first Arjuna Award for wrestling.

Chand competed in three Olympic Games — Rome 1960, Tokyo 1964, and Mexico City 1968 — with his best finish being sixth place in Mexico City. In the Asian Games, he won two silver medals in Jakarta 1962 (70 kg freestyle and 70 kg Greco-Roman) and a bronze in Bangkok 1966 (70 kg freestyle). At the World Championships, he took part in Yokohama 1961, Manchester 1965, Delhi 1967, and Edmonton 1970. He also won a gold medal at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. Nationally, he was India’s undisputed champion from 1958 to 1970.

After leaving the Indian Army, Chand became a coach at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University in Hisar, where he worked from 1970 to 1996. He trained many wrestlers and helped the university win numerous All India Inter-University Championships. He still lives in Hisar and continues to help budding wrestlers.