Ram Singh Yadav is an Indian marathon runner hailing from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. He was born on 7th November 1980. The father of Ram Singh Yadav was a fruit-seller in Mumbai (Maharashtra).
Ram Singh Yadav represented India at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London. Ram Singh Yadav achieved the qualification "B" standard at 2:18:00 by clocking a time of 2:16:59 at the 2012 Mumbai Marathon. That was his best performance in this event.
Ram Singh Yadav is the second Indian athlete ever to be qualified for the marathon event of the Olympics. Before that Ram Singh Yadav, Shivnath Singh was the Indian athlete who participated in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Ram Singh Yadav serves as the constable in Indian Army. Ram Singh Yadav participated in 2009 Mumbai Marathon for Beijing Olympics" marathon event, where he did not qualified for few seconds.
Ram Singh Yadav completed his race in 2:18:23 and finished 10th in the final standings. But President of the Indian Olympic Association, Suresh Kalmadi, mistakenly announced that Ram Singh Yadav had qualified for the Olympics, which was later corrected by the organisers.
Ram Singh Yadav underwent training for 45 days at a high-altitude training centre in Coonoor town of Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. In 2012 Mumbai Marathon Competition, he took part for the first time.
Ram Singh Yadav took 2:16:59 to finish the race, well under the B qualification standard of 2:18:00. He finished 12th overall in the final standings. 2:16:59 is also the personal best of Ram Singh Yadav. He is only the second Indian athlete ever to be qualified for the marathon event of the Olympics. Shivnath Singh of Bihar was the first Indian athlete to participate in the Olympics marathon. He participated twice in the Olympic Games-1976 and 1980.
At the London 2012 Olympic Games, Ram Singh Yadav completed the marathon with a time of 2:30:06 which placed him 78th in the final rankings. From a field of 105 starters, as many as 20 runners failed to finish the gruelling marathon final, which was won by Uganda`s Stephen Kiprotich in a time of 2:08:01.
Ram Singh Yadav is married to Urmila Yadav in 2001. The couple is blessed with three children, Amit Singh Yadav, Ankit Singh Yadav and Alok Singh Yadav. Currently, he is posted in Hyderabad"s Artillery Centre. He is giving training at Army Sports Institute in Pune.
