AFI shocked at passing away of Asian Games gold medallist Praveen Kumar Sobti

The Athletics Federation of India AFI expressed its deep shock at the passing away of Asian Games medallist in hammer and discus thrower Praveen Kumar Sobti here on Tuesday at the age of 74Sobti who became famous when he played the Pandava strongman Bhim in BR Chopras iconic television serial Mahabharat won consecutive gold medals in the discus at the 1966 and 1970 Asian Games held in Bangkok besides winning bronze in the hammer at the 1966 GamesHe also won the 1974 Tehran Asian Games silver in discus besides silver in the 1966 Commonwealth Games at Kingston in 1966Sobti also competed in the 1968 Mexico City and 1972 Munich Olympic Games where he produced his careerbest hammer throw 6084m and discus throw 5312m respectivelyAFI family is in deep shock on the passing away of Olympian amp Asian Games medallist Shri Praveen Kumar Sobti ji 74 today He became a household name with his role of Bheem in BR Chopras epic show Mahabharat RIP sir AFI tweeted on TuesdayAFI family is in deep shock on the passing away of Olympian amp Asian Games medalist Shri Praveen Kumar Sobti ji74today He became a household name with his role of Bheem in BR Chopras epic show MahabharatRIP sir PraveenKumarSobti Bheem pictwittercom9ZlN06XOVImdash Athletics Federation of India afiindia February 8 2022AFI president Adille J Sumariwalla said Indian athletics had lost a wonderful ambassador in the death of Sobti He will remain an inspiration for years to come as he is a great example of an athlete who gave his best on the international platform in the 11 years that he competed at the highest level he saidHailing from a humble family in Sarhali Kalan village 50km south of Amritsar Sobti rose to win the 1966 Commonwealth Games hammer throw silver which was the countrys maiden medal in a field event in the CWG and only the second in athletics after Milkha Singhs 440 yard gold in 1958It is this quality of raising his game at the biggest of stages that made Praveen Kumar the topnotch performer Sumariwalla said To have achieved all this at a time when training for major competition entailed only short stints in a National camp speaks volumes about his natural talent and the passionate fire that drove him to achieve excellenceBefore his foray into acting Sobti started his working life with the Border Security Force Sobti who towered at 6 feet 5 inches is best remembered for his ontelevision characters Bhim in Mahabarat and Saboo in the Raghubir Yadavstarrer Chacha Chaudhary based on Pran Kumar Sharmas hugely popular comicbook series in HindiInterestingly his Chacha Chaudhary character was a giant alien from Jupiter who provides protection to the elderly ChachaApart from having a busy film and television career Sobti also dabbled in politics he stood in the 2013 Municipal Corporation of Delhi 2013 elections and subsequently joined the BJPThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever