Bollywood film star Taapsee Pannu has acted as a sportswoman in several of her films. She acted as Mithali Raj in a biopic about the famous woman cricketer and also acted in other films where the story was about sports. These include Rashmi Rocket, Soorma, and Saand Ki Ankh. But it is not just in reel life that she has a link to sports. In real life too she has a strong connection with sports, particularly badminton.
That is because four months ago she got married to Mathias Boe who was a champion badminton player in his native country of Denmark. The two of them were in an 11-year-long courtship before tying the knot.
Mathias Boe was the gold medalist at the 2015 European Games and won the European championship on two occasions. At the London Olympics in 2012, Boe secured a silver medal and in 2016 Boe had been a member of the Danish team that won the Thomas Cup that year.
In 2020, Boe announced that he would retire from the sport as a player but continue to serve as a coach. He was the coach of the Indian pair of Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty who took part in the Olympic Games in Paris.
Another Bollywood connection
There is one more connection between Bollywood and the Paris Olympics. The most famous landmark of Paris is the Eiffel Tower and it is prominently displayed in all illustrations that have to do with the Games. The Eiffel Tower is named after its designer and creator Gustave Eiffel.
Gustave Eiffel, who was a celebrated engineer, was helped by several people to construct his famous structure. One of them was Maurice Koechlin who belonged to a very accomplished and well-known family. Maurice Koechlin’s great-granddaughter is Kalki Koechlin who has acted in several Bollywood films.
Kalki is the recipient of a National Film Award, two Screen Awards, and a Filmfare Award. She has French citizenship but was born in Puducherry and raised in India because her parents lived in this country at the time.
Bonanza awaits Ukraine boxers
World heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk has come out with an announcement that is likely to create unbridled enthusiasm among the boxers of his native country to win medals at the Paris Olympics. Normally boxers who take part in the Olympic Games do not receive any money as a prize because that would violate their amateur status as enshrined in the Olympic charter.
But if any government body or individual not connected to the conduct of the games wants to give them money as a gift, there is no rule to stop them from doing so. However, the war ravaged Ukraine and its hard pressed government has no funds to reward its sportsmen.
Therefore Usyk, who has earned considerable amounts as a professional boxer as well as a film actor, stepped in and announced that he will give prize money from his own pocket to every Ukrainian boxer who wins a medal in Paris. His offer is for boxers only. So spurred by that offer we may see a display of great excellence from several Ukraine boxers.
A peek into the past
Which cricketer played as a captain of the England cricket team and also won a gold medal in boxing at the Olympic Games? Only quiz participants will know the answer to that question. It was a cricketer named JWHT Douglas (his full name was John William Henry Tyler Douglas) who led the England cricket team before and after the First World War.
He was a talented all-round sportsman and right from his school days he was good at cricket and boxing. His boxing career progressed side by side with cricket. In 1908 he was selected to represent Great Britain in the Olympic Games. Fighting in the middleweight (71 kg) category, Johnny Douglas won the gold medal and was hailed as a superhero in Britain.
Unfortunately, Douglas died in a tragedy at sea when he was only 48. The ship, on which he was traveling with his father, was sunk after colliding with another ship. Courageous Johnny Douglas sacrificed his life to save his aged father. Britain’s hero died in the prime of his life.
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