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Born on January 29,1970 in Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. Rajyavardhan’s father Laxman Singh Rathore is a Colonel in the Indian Army and his mother Manju Rathore is a teacher. Though nick-named `Chilly` at home, according to his parents, he is a soft-spoken and down to earth person.

During his early years Rathore’s inclination was towards cricket. He was such a good player that he was almost selected in the Madhya Pradesh state cricket team for the famous Ranji Trophy in India. However, discouraged in the field of cricket by his mother, he appeared for the National Defense Academy examinations, which he qualified.

After becoming an army personel, Rathore showed enormous talent and potential in the Indian Army as well. In 1990, when he was a Major, he received the `Sword of Honour` from Indian Military Academy. He fought bravely against the separatist militants in Indian-administered Kashmir in the Kargil War in 1999. He seriously took up shooting in 1998, only a year before the war.

He got the chance to compete in the 2004 Olympics after he won a bronze medal at the World Championship in Cyprus. In the Commonwealth Shooting Championships,2005 held in Melbourne, he was a member of the winning team in the double trap event (participated in the same event in the Olympics, 2004). He has also won a Gold Medal in the team events in Men’s double trap at the 2005 Asian Clay Shooting championships and for consecutively three years he won the Gold Medal in the individual event (2003-04-05).

The Government of India has awarded him the `Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award`, the highest sporting honor of India in 2004-2005 for his extraordinary performance in the Olympic Games. He has also been awarded the `Ati Vishisht Seva Medal` (AVSM) by the Indian Government, for his exceptional service in the army. By winning this award, he became the first officer from the Indian Army below the rank of Brigadier to be awarded the AVSM.

Rathore has also been the recipient of some prestigious awards like the Arjuna Award (2003-04) and the Padma Shri, an honorary civilian award from the Government of India.

Rathore was chosen to be the flag-bearer at the 2008 Beijing Olympic.

Achievements : Won India's first individual silver medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics in shooting, won the Arjuna award in 2003-2004 and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the highest sporting honour of India, in 2004-2005.