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And a mighty fine package it is.

Sebastian Xavier, formerly India’s top swimmer, says Virdhawal Khade, his country’s first swimming medalist in 24 years, has excellent body language. He thinks Khade’s “whole package is good.” And if you think he is only talking about Khade’s abilities in the pool, he adds, “He is tall and seems to be good in all departments.” One look at Khade tells you Xavier knows of what he speaks.

The 21-year-old 6’3” champ is India’s hope for a medal in swimming at the London Games, albeit that’s a hope that is more of a dream carried on the zephyr of a prayer. But then Khade’s athletic career has been a fairy tale run ever since he became the youngest Indian, at the age of 15, to qualify for the Olympics. That same year he was the first Indian to break into the FINA world rankings, in the 50m butterfly, when he was ranked #50. Since then he captured a Bronze in the 50m Butterfly event at the 2010 16th Asian Games, and became one of India’s most popular sports figures.

Virdhawal Khade combines athletic prowess with male-model good looks.

“My father demanded that I win gold in butterfly but I won a bronze. I guess it’s good enough,” said Khade of his win at the Asian Games. An even less stellar finish at the 14th FINA World Championships in Shanghai last July, where he won his heat but failed to qualify for the semifinals, landed him a berth for the London Games even though he tied at the 41st spot out of 105 competitors. Typical of Khade, though a medal was out of his reach he was pleased with his personal accomplishment. ““I thought I could go faster,” he said in a post-race interview. “But I am happy about my feat as it was my first major meet of the year.”

As good as Khade is, winning his heat but not winning the event is for him par for the course. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics he finished first in his heat but did not qualify for the semifinals of the 100m freestyle. No problemo. Khade was pleased with setting a new personal best as well as a new Indian national record. In the 200m freestyle at the Games he came in 48th and 32nd in the 50m event. But that’s not to say his career is without accolades. And medals.

Khade’s got back.

Khade is the Indian National Record-holder in the 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m Freestyle events and in the 50m Butterfly event. He won six Gold Medals and broke three Games Records at the South Asian Games in 2006, and won six Gold medals and broke five Games Records at the 33rd National Games held in Guwahati. And he created history in 2010 when he won a medal in the 50m butterfly event at the Asian games, the first time in 24 years an Indian had done so.

Virdhawal says his goal for the London Games is to be in the top ten bracket. “I have a few more competitions lined up before the Olympics and my aim is to improve the timing,” he says. As for winning a medal? “I don’t think about my chances,” says Khade. “ I try to compete with myself. A lot of people say a lot of things about what we should be doing at the Olympics, but I shut all such thoughts out.”

Virdhawal Khade is the Indian National Record-holder in 5 swimming events and a multi-gold medal winning swimmer.

With Michael Phelps and the one-two Aussie knock out hottie punch of Eamon Sullivan and James Magnussen as competition, Khade’s chances at climbing onto the podium in London are slim. A winner, a hero, in his home country, competing on the international level his efforts are mere fodder for those expected to take home medals and to reap world-wide acclaim, not to mention lucrative sponsorship deals. In that Khade exemplifies the thousands of athletes who compete at the Games knowing their chances of winning – or even getting to compete in the finals of their events – are nil.

The gold medalist Olympians are feted around the world and gain instant fame and recognition. An occasional Olympic doubtful gets his fifteen minutes when he becomes the favorite underdog thanks to a television producer’s need for a heart warming story of persistence in the face of guaranteed defeat. But like Khade, the majority of athletes at the Olympics receive no television coverage; they remain unknown to the world. They receive no applause except from their families, or within their small towns or small nations. And yet it is those competitors, those who compete for the love of their sport and whose wins are only against their own personal achievements, that best exemplify what the Olympics are all about.

And he’s cute too.

If Khade competes true to form at the Olympic Games this year, he will win his qualifying heat. But unless he lucks out and swims with one of the leaders even that won’t be televised. If he swims well enough to make it into the semifinals, he’ll be one of the unnamed athletes swimming in the outer lanes. You probably will never here his name during Olympic coverage. You will probably never see his charming face televised (unless NBC runs a Hunk of the Olympics segment). But regardless his nation will be cheering him on and will be proud of his accomplishments even if it only means he had the opportunity of competing at the Games.

[‘The XXX Games’ are a series of posts about hot Olympians, gay competitors – both present and past – and general articles about the 2012 London Olympics of interest to gay men. So, yeah, lots of hot male eye candy. Click the XXX Games graphic below for additional news, stories, and pictures.]

The XXX Games of the Olympiad