VADODARA, GUJARAT - Indo-American gymnast Raj Bhavsar, who won the bronze medal in Beijing Olympics, had thought of quitting the game after being dejected over his failure in the previous editions of the Games in Sydney and Athens.

However, the 28-year-old man from Houston managed to key himself up for the Beijing Games.

But even the call for Beijing came just a fortnight before the games when he was drafted in to replace an injured American gymnast, Raj told his grandfather Bhanubhai Bhavsar here over phone soon after winning the medal in artistic gymnastics.

“It’s been a fairytale journey for me. This medal represents the heart and soul of the team. No one thought we could win a medal,” Raj said.
“But deep down, we knew we could do and we never doubted ourself,” he said.

The 28-year-old Houston lad, born to Gujarati parents Bob and Sue Bhavsar, was part of the six-member American men’s team which won the bronze medal in artistic gymnastics in the Beijing Olympics.

Raj, a member of 2001 and 2003 World Champion US team, thus became the second Indo-American gymnast, after Mohini Bhardwaj, to win an Olympic medal.

Jitendra, Raj’s father, went to USA in 1968 after obtaining Bachelor degree of engineering from the M. S. University, Baroda.     (PTI)