Milkha Singh
Milkha Singh was born at Layallpur, in Pakistan, on October 8, 1935. Born in poverty, Milkha's problems were doubled after he lost his parents in the violence following the partition of the country.
In those days there were hardly any facilities for sports training, leave alone good coaches and rewards. Yet Milkha followed his calling.
Milkha was interested in athletics right from the start. While other students in his village would trudge across to the local school, Milkha built his stamina by running all the way.
The young athlete first shot to fame during the National Games at Cuttak in 1958 where he broke the 200 and 400 meters record. 1958 was also the year he established new records in the 200 and 400 meters in the Asian games at Tokyo and won a gold in the Commonwealth Games at Cardiff in 1958. He was awarded the prestigious 'Padam Shri' for his excellent performance in the same year.
Did you know?
Once, Milkha was participating in the Indo-Pak duel meet at Lahore where he was pitted against Asia's most celebrated athlete Abdul Khaliq of Pakistan in the 200 meters. Khaliq had a string of victories in the 200 metres in Asia. But as the race began, Milkha outpaced the Pakistani from the word `go' and easily won the race. The wonder struck announcers declared that Milkha had not run but had flown. Since that day Milkha Singh came to be known as the flying Sikh.
Two years later Milkha gave his finest performance at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He was very popular with the local crowd. The moment he would enter the stadium, people would start cheering for this bearded guy. They had never seen an athlete with long hair and mistook Milkha for a saint!
In the heats and the semi final of the 400 metres at the Rome Olympics Milkha finished second. In the final, Milkha took an early lead but then thought he was running too fast and so slowed down a bit. The decision was wrong and soon other athletes left him behind. Still the result was a photo finish. The winner, Ottis Davis clocked 44.8 seconds, Kaufman finished second while Mel Spence of South Africa timed 45.5 seconds to finish third. Milkha Singh was fourth with 45.6 seconds, a difference of just 0.1 second from the bronze.
Still, his timing in the race was a new record for any Indian and remained unbeaten for the next 38 years! At one time Milkha even announced that he would give any player who beats this record a sum of 2 lakh rupees.
Fundu Fact
Milkha's 400 m record of 45.6 seconds (hand-timed), (later converted into electronic time at 45.73 seconds), was erased by Paramjeet Singh, an inspector in the Central Reserve Police Force in 1999. The 26-year-old romped home in 45.70 seconds electronic time (45.5 - hand time) and achieved a long standing dream.
At first Milkha refused to recognize this performance finding something wrong with the timing devices used - finally he agreed to pay Paramjeet half of the 2 lakh he had promised to pay anyone who could beat his record. The rest he promised to pay if Paramjeet repeated his performance abroad. But record or no record Milkha will still be one of the greatest Indian athletes of all time.
Married to former international player, Nirmal, today Milkha has a son and three daughters. His son, Chiranjeev Milkha Singh, is one of India's top golfer and winner of the Arjuna award in that field.
Milkha Singh has donated all medals and trophies won by him to the national sports museum at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
In those days there were hardly any facilities for sports training, leave alone good coaches and rewards. Yet Milkha followed his calling.
Milkha was interested in athletics right from the start. While other students in his village would trudge across to the local school, Milkha built his stamina by running all the way.
The young athlete first shot to fame during the National Games at Cuttak in 1958 where he broke the 200 and 400 meters record. 1958 was also the year he established new records in the 200 and 400 meters in the Asian games at Tokyo and won a gold in the Commonwealth Games at Cardiff in 1958. He was awarded the prestigious 'Padam Shri' for his excellent performance in the same year.
Did you know?
Once, Milkha was participating in the Indo-Pak duel meet at Lahore where he was pitted against Asia's most celebrated athlete Abdul Khaliq of Pakistan in the 200 meters. Khaliq had a string of victories in the 200 metres in Asia. But as the race began, Milkha outpaced the Pakistani from the word `go' and easily won the race. The wonder struck announcers declared that Milkha had not run but had flown. Since that day Milkha Singh came to be known as the flying Sikh.
Two years later Milkha gave his finest performance at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He was very popular with the local crowd. The moment he would enter the stadium, people would start cheering for this bearded guy. They had never seen an athlete with long hair and mistook Milkha for a saint!
In the heats and the semi final of the 400 metres at the Rome Olympics Milkha finished second. In the final, Milkha took an early lead but then thought he was running too fast and so slowed down a bit. The decision was wrong and soon other athletes left him behind. Still the result was a photo finish. The winner, Ottis Davis clocked 44.8 seconds, Kaufman finished second while Mel Spence of South Africa timed 45.5 seconds to finish third. Milkha Singh was fourth with 45.6 seconds, a difference of just 0.1 second from the bronze.
Still, his timing in the race was a new record for any Indian and remained unbeaten for the next 38 years! At one time Milkha even announced that he would give any player who beats this record a sum of 2 lakh rupees.
Fundu Fact
Milkha's 400 m record of 45.6 seconds (hand-timed), (later converted into electronic time at 45.73 seconds), was erased by Paramjeet Singh, an inspector in the Central Reserve Police Force in 1999. The 26-year-old romped home in 45.70 seconds electronic time (45.5 - hand time) and achieved a long standing dream.
At first Milkha refused to recognize this performance finding something wrong with the timing devices used - finally he agreed to pay Paramjeet half of the 2 lakh he had promised to pay anyone who could beat his record. The rest he promised to pay if Paramjeet repeated his performance abroad. But record or no record Milkha will still be one of the greatest Indian athletes of all time.
Married to former international player, Nirmal, today Milkha has a son and three daughters. His son, Chiranjeev Milkha Singh, is one of India's top golfer and winner of the Arjuna award in that field.
Milkha Singh has donated all medals and trophies won by him to the national sports museum at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
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