Phadeppa Dareppa Chaugule a.k.a. P.D Chaugule (1902–1958) was

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

's first

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

runner. He represented India in the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, and finished 19th with a timing of 2 hours 50 minutes 45.2 seconds. He hailed from the town of

Belgaum Belgaum (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma''; also Belgaon and officially known as Belagavi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located in its northern part along the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Biography

He was born in 1902 or 1905 (no exact records available). His family had a business connected with Printing Press and an agriculture land. PD Chaugule was educated in vernacular (Kannada) medium up to 6th grade and he belonged to

, Karnataka (then in Bombay Province) At the beginning of his career he enjoyed wrestling. He even took part in bouts in

Akhada Akhara or Akhada (Sanskrit and Hindi: अखाड़ा, shortened to ''khara'' Hindi: खाड़ा) is an Indian word for a place of practice with facilities for boarding, lodging and training, both in the context of Indian martial artists o ...

(arena), but he injured his arm and couldn't continue doing this sport. So he started running. He was a strict vegetarian, which caused him a lot of problems during his traveling to England and Belgium.

Sporting career

In 1919 he took part in the National Marathon organized by the Deccan Gymkhana Club of Pune (then Poona) and after that in some other marathons such as 10 Miles and 1 Mile events at the All-India Open Amateur Athletic Sports Meet in Mumbai (Bombay). He was the winner in all these marathons. On 22 August 1920 he ran the Marathon in the Antwerp Olympics and since that point he became the first Indian Olympic participant. The house of

's first Olympian, P D Chaugule is called as Pavananjaya. He received the title Conqueror of the Wind from the local community after on 7 December 1919, after the Antwerp Olimpics, where he was among the top-20. He died in 1958. A postal cover was released in 2003 to honour him, and the Chaugule Shield Cricket Tournament is organised by a local Gymkhana club every year in

Belagavi Belgaum (ISO: ''Bēḷagāma''; also Belgaon and officially known as Belagavi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located in its northern part along the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Belagavi ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaugule, Phadeppa Dareppa 1900s births 1952 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of India Indian male marathon runners Indian male long-distance runners Athletes from Karnataka People from Belgaum 20th-century Indian Jains