Indian athletes have won a total of 24 medals at the Paris Olympics. This includes 5 gold, 9 silver and 10 bronze medals. India is at number 13 in the medal tally at the Olympics. Maharashtra's Sachin Khilari won the silver medal in the men's shot put F46 event. With this silver medal, Sachin Khilari has become the first Indian male athlete to win a medal in shot put in the Paralympics in 40 years. This is the first gold medal for India in the championship. Khashaba Jadhav became the first Indian wrestler to win an individual medal at the Olympics. Similarly, a Marathi man won India's first gold medal in the Paralympics. His name is Murli Manohar Joshi.
Murlikant Petkar won a gold medal in the men's 50m freestyle swimming event at the 1972 Paralympics in Heidelberg, Germany. This is a matter of pride for entire Maharashtra. However, his name faded away with time. In the year 2018, he was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
Who are Murlikant Petkar?
Murlikant Petkar was born on 1 November 1944 in Peth Islampur village in Sangli district of Maharashtra. He was fond of sports since childhood. Like Khashaba Jadhav, he also dreamt of winning a medal in the Olympics and started wrestling at a very young age. But at the age of 12, he had to leave the village due to a dispute in the village. After leaving the village, he joined the army. He chose boxing to pursue his dream of winning a medal while in the army. He won a silver medal at the 1964 Tokyo International Games.
Unfortunately, he was killed in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. The rest of the bullets were removed from the body, but one bullet got stuck in the spine, paralysing the lower part of the body. He had to quit boxing. But Petkar, who had a very cheeky nature, decided to become a swimmer. He became the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the Paralympics by breaking the time record in the 50m event.
At the 1972 Paralympics in Heidelberg, West Germany, he won the gold medal in the 50 metre freestyle swimming event with a time of 37.33 s.
Chandu Champion is based on the life of Petkar.
The film is based on the life of para-athlete Murlikant Petkar, who won India's first gold medal at the Paralympics. Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan is playing the role of gangster Murlikant Petkar in the movie. The story of the inspiring life of Murlikant Petkar has been portrayed very well in the film and 'Chandu Champion' is mentioned in the line of sports biopics like Milkha Singh, MS Dhoni.
Before Kartik Aaryan, Sushant Singh Rajput was supposed to play the role of Murlikant Petkar. However, due to Sushant's tragic death in 2020, Kartik Aaryan was chosen to replace him. After the release of the film Chandu Champion on June 2024, Murlikant Petkar had paid tribute to Sushant Singh Rajput.
India won 24 medals at the Paris Paralympics.
India has so far won a total of 24 medals at the Paris Paralympics 2024, including 5 gold, 9 silver and 10 bronze medals. India won five medals at the Tokyo Olympics. India is currently ranked No. 13 in the world. So far, Avani Lekhara (shooting), Nitesh Kumar (badminton), Sumit Antil (javelin throw), Harvinder Singh (archery) and Dharambir (club throw) have won gold medals for India.
