In today’s day and age when most people find it difficult to balance just their regular jobs and personal life on a daily basis, Parag Patil, a cab driver by profession, is successfully juggling his job, home commitments and intense training for the upcoming Australian Masters Games in Canberra (October 18 to 25). And, he is confident of winning multiple medals, too. The unfortunate part though is that Patil, an accomplished 100m sprinter, long jumper, and triple jumper, has been unable to find funding for the trip, which is around Rs 4 lakh.

Patil, 46, is an accomplished masters [see box] athlete, having bagged an impressive 17 medals (two gold, 11 silver and four bronze) across numerous international competitions in the pre-COVID phase. He has always managed his expenses through crowdfunding with his last competition being in Australia in 2019. However, the upcoming Australian Masters Games is his first competition in the post-COVID era where he has been hit by a shortage of funds. 

Masters athlete Parag Patil in the app cab he drives for a living