The story till thenKhashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, one of five sons of a wrestler himself, grew up in Goleshwar village, about 75km north of Kolhapur, a princely state in which wrestling received royal patronage. Jadhav took to the sport at a young age - records argue between eight and ten - and grew into a formidable wrestler in his teens. In 1948 he beat national flyweight champion Niranjan Das of Bengal in Lucknow to earn his ticket to the 1948 London Austerity Olympic Games. The Maharaja of Kolhapur financed the trip and Jadhav was to finish sixth. By the time the Helsinki Olympics came around in 1952, the princely state of Kolhapur had been erased and Jadhav had to ask for public donations to pay for his journey to Finland. The public contributed towards his kit and R Khardikar, the principal of Kolhapurs Rajaram College, where Jadhav studied, mortgaged his house for Rs 7000 to send his student to the Games.The moment Jadhav, who competed in the flyweight category in London, participated in Helsinki as a bantamweight fighter. There were new rules to deal with - like needing a two-second pin of the opponents shoulders on the floor to be awarded victory. He also needed to get used to the mat, instead of the Indian method of wrestling in mud. Jadhav won each of his first five bouts at the Olympics in less than five minutes. In a bout for a place in the final, eventual gold medallist Ishii Shobachi needed 15 minutes to defeat Jadhav, by a single point.Though a half-hour break was specified between contests, Jadhav was rushed into his next bout, against the Soviet Unions Rashid Mammadbeyov. There was no Indian official on hand to fight Jadhavs case and, exhausted from the bout against Shobachi, he was defeated easily. Rather than get another shot to take on Shobachi in the final, Jadhav was quickly beaten into the No. 3 spot. No one could deny, though, that it was Jadhav who had earned Indian wrestling its earliest recognition in Olympic history.The reaction There is little recorded history about responses to Jadhavs medal, either from the wrestler himself or from the new nation state. History does record, though, that when Jadhav returned to his village, a procession of 151 bullock carts and drummers welcomed him home. His cousin Sampat Rao remembers that day, telling a journalist, Every villager was basking in that moment of glory. Khashaba bhau brought the small village of Goleshwar, earlier a dot on the map, to the fore. The whole world knew and recognised Goleshwar as the village that gave India its first ever Olympic champion.Expert view One of his peers, Banda Patil, who lived in a neighbouring village, told me that after farm work in the day, Khashaba would take mattresses tied together out into his fields and train on them in the evenings. He was a diamond from the rough and we, his state, his country, left him there. Rather than receive awards after his death, Khashaba should have been the countrys first Arjuna Award winner. I tell all my young trainees that KD Jadhavs standard - an Olympic medallist - is the one they need to emulate. -?Kaka Pawar, Indian wrestler and coachThe story since When Jadhav returned from Helsinki he staged a wrestling tournament to raise money to allow his college principal to buy back the house he had sold to fund Jadhavs trip.Despite his Olympic success, whose historical resonance continues to grow, his life after Helsinki was a struggle. Jadhav was inducted into the Maharashtra police in 1955 and was to serve as a sub-inspector for 22 years, only promoted six months before retirement. He died in a motorcycle accident in 1984, but awards and recognition came only after his death, because of his familys determination to ensure that their champion was publicly appreciated. Jadhav was to receive two major awards - Maharashtras highest sporting honour, the Shiv Chhatrapati Award (1994), and the Arjuna Award (2000) - only posthumously. He is the only Indian Olympic medallist not to receive a Padma award. In 2010, the wrestling stadium at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex was named after Jadhav, before the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.Recommended reading Olympic Veer KD Jadhav (Hindi) by Sanjay Sudhane Elgton Jenkins Womens Jersey . In the lead up - which seemed to begin the moment Mike Geiger blew the whistle in Houston last Thursday night - the Impact rumour mill went into overdrive. The speculation went into meltdown mode, of the golden nugget variety. Paul Hornung Womens Jersey . Bradwell was scheduled to become a free agent Tuesday. Born and raised in Toronto, Bradwell is entering his sixth CFL season, with all six played for his hometown Argonauts. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Packers-Clay-Matthews-Jersey/ . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs tonight at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. Darnell Savage Jr. Womens Jersey .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Aaron Rodgers Youth Jersey . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. The AFL grand final will double as a reminder of the sports development north of the Murray River, with seven players set to represent both club and state at the MCG.Sydney co-captains Jarrad McVeigh and Kieren Jack, veteran Ben McGlynn, defender Dane Rampe, ruckman Sam Naismith and young guns Isaac Heeney and Callum Mills were all recruited from NSW. In sharp contract there wont be one player from NSW running out for Western Bulldogs on Saturday.McGlynn hails from the border town of Dareton but otherwise they all learned to love football from beyond the Barassi Line. They took divergent paths to the SCG and reflect how recruitment and development has changed in Sydney and NSW over the past 20 years.Heeney, who grew up south of Newcastle in the town of Cardiff, and North Shore product Mills have both declared they would have stopped playing Australian football if not for the Swans Academy.McVeigh, the oldest of Sydneys NSW contingent, didnt have the same luxury.The 31-year-old was 11 when he watched an epic preliminary final from the SCG stands, revelling as Tony Lockett steered Sydney into the season decider with a point after the siren.McVeigh was at the MCG for the ensuing grand final. It was a match that made many Sydneysiders, including Jack, first sit up and take notice of the sport.But McVeigh was no stranger to the ground or the game, thanks to the fact father Tony played for Williamstown in the VFA.McVeigh had dreamed of winning an AFL grand final since attending the 1993 season decider but being based on the Central Coast presented difficulties.AFL wasnt talked about in the playground at all really, not many people knew much about it or the Swans ... there was only one other person from my school that played the game, McVeigh recalled in a column earlier this year.McVeighs parents recognised the best place for him and brother Mark tto be noticed by recruiters was in Sydney so they agreed to make a regular commute.dddddddddddd The boys become draftees after playing for Pennant Hills.Jack also made a big impression at the same club, having opted against following father and Balmain legend Garry Jack into rugby league.Jack played Australian football for the first time in the school-based Paul Kelly Cup and was instantly hooked. His AFL career started on the Swans rookie list - as was the case with Rampe and Naismith.Rampe was born and bred in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. The Swans supporter turned All-Australian defender still hasnt forgiven father Indrek for not flying him down for the 2005 and 2006 grand finals.Rampe moved to Melbourne after finishing school but returned home after a fruitless VFL stint. Dominant performances from the defender in the local Sydney league caught the attention of Paul Roos, then an academy coach, and word spread of his potential.Roos also helped steer Naismith from the north-eastern NSW town of Gunnedeah to Sydney. The rugby league fan started playing Australian football late in his childhood and was set to stop until a call from Roos convinced him otherwise.Id never been to the SCG and hadnt watched much AFL at all. The first game I watched was the 2008 grand final. There was very minimal exposure to it in the country, Naismith told AAP.Hopefully its a bit different now. Im sure mum has been telling everyone theres a game on and therell be a few people back home watching.Whenver Naismith drives through country NSW he is staggered by the changing scenery.It seems like its almost doubling every year. Before youd drive around and wouldnt see any AFL goal posts anywhere ... I think its developing nicely, he said. ' ' '