Jaipur, Nov 9 (IANS): He was the shooting star who won a silver medal for India at the 2004 Athens Olympics in double trap event. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore later took retirement from the army and joined politics.

Rathore entered the 16th Lok Sabha by defeating senior Congress leader C.P. Joshi from Jaipur Rural constituency. This was the first time he contested an election.

Born Jan 29, 1970, Rathore took voluntary retirement from the army in 2013 and became a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

He has been a member of the standing committee on defence since Sep 1.

Rathore comes from a family of armymen as his father was also in the army.

The shooting champion has also won medals in the Commonwealth Games and the World Shooting Championships.

He was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the highest sporting honour in India, for the year 2004.

He was also was rewarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM), a gallantry award for services he had provided.