Champion wrestler Sushil Kumar married Savi, eldest of the three children of well-known wrestler and his guru Satpal at a farmhouse near Palla village, in New Delhi, on Friday.

Delving details about the ceremony, Sant Kumar, Sushil's brother, said, "The Ghudchari ceremony took place at 2.30 pm at the champion's residence in Baprola village before the baarat reached the reception venue."

Photographs: Chaman Gautam

Delhi chief minister Mrs Sheila Dikshit witnessed the wedding along with senior members of the Indian Olympic Association.

Sushil and Savi had exchange engagement rings at a lavish ceremony, held at Hotel Shangrila, on November 10 last year.

Their engagement ceremony was witnessed by former BJP chief Rajnath Singh, George Fernandes, former captain of the Indian cricket team Kapil Dev and Commonwealth Games gold medallist wrestlers Narsingh Yadav and Ravinder Kumar.

Unheralded Sushil Kumar rose from obscurity to find a place in the history of Indian sport when he won a bronze medal in the men's 66kg freestyle wrestling at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

He became the second Indian wrestler after Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, who won a bronze in the 1952 Helsinki Games, to win an Olympic medal.

Life changed for Sushil after his Olympics medal. The accolades started pouring in, but, significantly, he kept delivering with consistent performances. He won four consecutive gold medals at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships, and in May struck gold at the Asian Championships.

Last July, he was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country's highest sports honour. Union railway minister Mamta Banerjee promised him out-of-turn promotion to any position he wants from his current rank as Assistant Commercial Manager (ACM).

Sushil then added another feather to his cap, winning a gold medal in the men's 66-kg freestyle wrestling at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, which Delhi hosted.

A near-capacity audience, that included Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, witnessed the Olympic bronze medallist outclass Heinrich Barnes of South Africa in the final.