Mumbai entrepreneur Aaryan Singh Kushwah with Ola driver and an Olympian Parag Patil.
Credit: LinkedIn/Aaryan Singh Kushwah
A Mumbai based entrepreneur named Aaryan Singh Kushwah booked an Ola cab, and to his surprise his driver Parag Patil had been an Olympian.
Aaryan took to his LinkedIn account and posted a picture with Parag with a caption where he wrote about Parag's great achievements in the past.
With two golds, 11 silvers and three bronze medals, Parag has represented India on an international level, the post reveals. "Each time he has represented India internationally, he has never returned without a medal," the caption read.
Parag secured second in Asia in Triple Jump and third in Asia in Long Jump.
Aaryan further wrote how after all of his achievements, Parag was unable to pursue his athletic career due to financial factors.
"Yet he has no sponsors and just enough funds to feed his family, let alone pursue his athletic career," it read.
"This post is a call to action for anyone that can help sponsor Parag represent and win for India internationally," Aaryan added.
The post has received over 400 reactions and a wave of comments showing support for Parag.
"This is so heartbreaking yet so inspiring (he is an inspiration not the Government or the people of India). We totally failed him. I remember people (fans) clicking pictures with dolly chaiwala at the airport while ignoring the hockey stars standing next to him. It’s not them. It’s us. We failed them," a user commented under the post.
Another user commented saying how India lacks mamagement agencies for athletes. "This is a real problem we have multiple talent management agencies for influences in India but none for sports men / women, it could potentially be a huge untapped market," they wrote.
"Bruh, this man deserves a lot. idk why many athletes end up like this," commented a third.
However, The Bridge has fact-checked this and found out that he did not participate in the summer Olympics but in the Senior Olympics, meant for senior citizens