Milkha Singh
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Milkha Singh was born in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad) on 8 October 1935 is a Sikh athlete, who represented India in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He is nicknamed The Flying Sikh. Winner of Padma Shri, Olympic 400 m record holder in 1960 Rome Olympics. Gold medal Champion 1958 Commonwealth Games, Asian Games 1958 (200 & 400 metres) and Asian Games 1962 (200 metres). He is one of the greatest athletes India has ever produced.
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[edit] Childhood
Milkha Singh lost his parents in the Partition of India and the chaos that ensued. He reached India from Pakistan in the cross border trains carrying refugees. He was from Faisalabad, then known as Lyallpur. He briefly worked in the Indian Army.
[edit] Sports and athletics
In the first heat in the Rome Olympics in 1960 Milkha Singh clocked 47.6 seconds to finish second. In the second round heat Milkha cut off a few second to finish second to Karl Kaufman of Germany with a timing of 46.5 seconds. In the semifinal Milkha ran shoulder to shoulder with Ottis Davis of the USA to finish once again second but he further clipped a few more seconds from his early timing (45.9) .In the final Milkha Singh went off the blocks and took an early lead. Midway he slowed down a bit. This proved his undoing because other athletes went past him. Realising his miscalculation, Mikha drew out every ounce of energy for the final burst but failed to retrieve the lost ground. How fiercely was the race run by runners of such high order can be gauged from the fact that the winner Ottis Davis and Kaufman clocked 44.8 seconds to finish first and second in 400 meters while Mel Spence of South Africa timed 45.5 seconds to finish third. Milkha Singh who actually led the pack was untimely fourth, timing 45.6 seconds, a difference of just 0.1 second from the bronze. Thus up to the final he clocked 47.6, 46.5, 45.9 and 45.6 seconds, clocking a better timing in every outing.
Talking about the race Milkha Singh explained that he found himself running at a reckless speed in the initial stages of the race. Thus he tried to slow down a bit and this proved to be a big error of judgement on his part. Pitted against athletes of such high class only a small error separated the winner from the loser.
Twenty eight years have passed since Milkha hung his spikes yet no athlete has ever gone nearer Milkha's magical timing. He was a product of that time when no facilities existed, no coach available, no reward offered and no job secured, yet armed only with an iron will and the will to draw his own course, Milkha reversed the movement of the wheels of destiny.
Born at Layallpur, now in Pakistan, on October 8, 1935, Milkha Singh shot into limelight during the National Games at Patiala in 1956. Two years later he shattered the 200 and 400 meters record in the National games at Cuttack. The same year he established new records in the 200 and 400 meters in the Asian games at Tokyo. He followed it up with a gold in the Commonwealth Games at Cardiff in 1958. How did he come to be known as the "Flying Sikh"?. Milkha Singh was participating in the Indo-Pak duel meet at Lahore when he outran Asia's most celebrated athlete in the 200 meters, Abdul Khaliq of Pakistan. It was said that Milkha did not run the race but he flew.
Hardly anyone knows in India why Milkha Singh was so popular in the 1960 Rome Olympics. The moment he would enter the stadium, the people would cheer him most enthusiastically. After all Milkha Singh was not the world's top athlete, no doubt he was among the top runners in the world. Though Rome saw the assembly of top athletes, yet no athlete could draw as much response from the crowd as Milkha Singh.
The real reason for Milkha Singh to be extremely popular among the people was that Milkha Singh had long hair and beard. People in Rome had not seen any athlete with a hairdo on his head. They thought the man was a saint. So they wondered how a saint could run so fast. In addition to that none in Rome had any knowledge about Sikhism. The people often came to Milkha Singh and asked why he grew long hair. What is a Sikh, what is Sikhism, they hardly understood anything about the young religion. Milkha Singh enlightened them as much as he could. Yet the people remained as curious as ever.
Besides, Milkha Singh had embarked on a European tour before landing in Rome. He had won a number of races on route to Rome. Since he had made some of the top athletes lick the dust in a number of competitions, his popularity had spread far and wide even before he reached Rome. In the Olympics too Milkha Singh ran true to his form and ruined the reputation of some of the established stars. Almost all Sikh athletes and sportsmen tied a handkerchief on their hairdo since 'patka' was unknown in those days. Thus Milkha Singh's different headgear and his athletic exploits made him the darling of the crowd both on and off the track. Milkha Singh himself admits that he was popular because of being a Sikh. The long hair and the beard fascinated the Romans
- He won the gold medal at the 1958 Asian Games in the 200 m and 400 m.
- He won the gold medal at the 1962 Asian Games.
- He won the gold medal at the 1958 Commonwealth Games.
- Olympic 400m record holder in 1960 Rome Olympics.
[edit] Retirement
Milkha Singh was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri by the President of India in 1958 when he won the gold medal in the British and Commonwealth Games till now.
All medals and trophies won by Milkha Singh, including the running shoes with which he broke the world record, blazers and uniforms have been donated by him to the National Sports Museum at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.
Milkha Singh has keen desire to witness an Indian athlete win a gold Medal in the Olympic Games, a target which just slipped away from his hand by slight error of judgement.
After retirement, Milkha Singh holds the appointment of Director of Sports in Punjab.
His son Jeev Milkha Singh is a professional golfer who has featured in the top-50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.
After retirement from the post Milkha Singh wants to set up an athletic academy in or around Chandigarh so that he can end the draught of top athletes
