Dattu Baban Bhokanal is an Indian rower who has qualified for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic.

Early Life of Dattu Baban Bhokanal
Dattu Baban Bhokanal was born in a stone-crushing labourer family in Talegaon, a tiny village in Maharashtra in 1991. His mother is Asha Bhavana Bhokanal. He works for Indian Army from 2012.

Career of Dattu Baban Bhokanal
Dattu Baban Bhokanal started rowing in 2012 at the Bombay Engineer Group & Centre (Khadki) in Pune. In 2013, he shifted to Army Rowing Node (ARN), Pune, Maharashtra for better training. His first coach was Kusrat Ali. Now he is trained under Dronacharya and Chief National Rowing Coach Ismail Baig at the ARN, Pune.

Support for Dattu Baban Bhokanal
Dattu Baban Bhokanal is supported by the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme which funds Olympic medal prospects for their training and preparation.

Achievements of Dattu Baban Bhokanal
Dattu Baban Bhokanal won two gold medals in the 2014 National Rowing Championships, representing the Services. He also scored fifth in the 2014 Asian Games in China.

Olympics Career of Dattu Baban Bhokanal
Dattu Baban Bhokanal has qualified for the Olympics after winning silver in the men`s single sculls event at the FISA Asian and Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta at Chung-ju in South Korea where he clocked 7 minutes and 07.63 seconds.

First Participation by Dattu Baban Bhokanal
Dattu Baban Bhokanal is the only Indian rower to qualify for the Rio Olympic and is only the ninth rower to represent India in the Olympics. Dattu Baban Bhokanal is a 25-years old army man who clocked 7 minutes and 07.63 seconds in the 2km course to finish second. The top seven in the finals qualify for the Rio Olympics Games in 2016.

Related Articles
Rowing in India
Indian Athletes and Olympics
India at 2012 Summer Olympics
India at 2016 Summer Olympics