Exit Goel,enter shooter Rajyavardhan

New Delhi: Athens Olympic silver medallist shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was on Sunday appointed the new sports minister in place of Vijay Goel, who has been made the minister of state for parliamentary affairs.

The 47-year-old Rathore was till now serving as Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting.Rathore takes over from the pro-active Goel following a major cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Colonel Rathore first stepped in a shooting range in the mid 1990s.A few years later, he became India's first ever individual silver medal winner at the Olympic Games. He stood on the podium after finishing second in the men's double trap at the 2004 Athens Games.

A year before he created Olympic history, Rathore had won a silver medal at the 2003 World Championships in Sydney.
Prior to the Athens Games, Rathore was posted in Delhi with the army's marksmanship unit for two years to help him practise in the city's Tughlaqabad shooting range.

Fellow Olympian Abhinav Bindra, who had bettered Rathore's Olympic feat with a first ever gold medal in 10m air rifle at Beijing Games, congratulated the minister.Several sportspersons also hailed Rathore’s appointment.