40 Facts About Milkha Singh

Milkha Singh, known as "The Flying Sikh", was an Indian track and field sprinter who was introduced to the sport while serving in the Indian Army.

Milkha Singh is the only athlete to win gold at 400 metres at the Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games.

Milkha Singh won gold medals in the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games.

Milkha Singh represented India in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Milkha Singh was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour, in recognition of his sporting achievements.

The race for which Singh was best remembered is his fourth-place finish in the 400 metres final at the 1960 Olympic Games, which he had entered as one of the favourites.

Milkha Singh led the race till the 200m mark before easing off, allowing others to pass him.

From beginnings that saw him orphaned and displaced during the Partition of India, Milkha Singh has become a sporting icon in his country.

Milkha Singh died from complications of COVID-19 on 18 June 2021, at the age of 91, five days after his wife, Nirmal Saini.

Milkha Singh was born on 20 November 1929, into a Sikh family.

Milkha Singh's birthplace was Govindpura, a village 10 kilometres from Muzaffargarh city in Punjab Province, British India.

Milkha Singh was one of 15 siblings, eight of whom died before the Partition of India.

Milkha Singh was orphaned during the Partition when his parents, a brother and two sisters were killed in the violence that ensued between the villagers and Muslims who tried to convert them.

Milkha Singh spent some time at a refugee camp in Purana Qila and at a resettlement colony in Shahdara, both in Delhi.

Milkha Singh became disenchanted with his life and considered becoming a dacoit but was instead persuaded by one of his brothers, Malkhan, to attempt recruitment to the Indian Army.

Milkha Singh successfully gained entrance on his fourth attempt, in 1951, and while stationed at the Electrical Mechanical Engineering Centre in Secunderabad and he was introduced to athletics.

Milkha Singh had run the 10km distance to and from school as a child and was selected by the army for special training in athletics after finishing sixth in a compulsory cross-country run for new recruits.

Milkha Singh has acknowledged how the army introduced him to sport, saying that "I came from a remote village, I didn't know what running was, or the Olympics".

Milkha Singh represented India in the 200m and 400m competitions of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.

Milkha Singh's inexperience meant that he did not progress from the heat stages but a meeting with the eventual 400m champion at those Games, Charles Jenkins, both inspired him to greater things and provided him with information about training methods.

In 1958, Milkha Singh set records for the 200m and 400m in the National Games of India, held at Cuttack, and won gold medals in the same events at the Asian Games.

Milkha Singh then won a gold medal in the 400m competition at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games with a time of 46.6 seconds.

Milkha Singh was persuaded by Jawaharlal Nehru to set aside his memories of the Partition era to race successfully in 1960 against Abdul Khaliq in Pakistan, where a post-race comment by the then General Ayub Khan led to him acquiring the nickname of The Flying Sikh.

Milkha Singh had beaten all the leading contenders other than Otis Davis, and a medal had been anticipated because of his good form.

Milkha Singh believes that these errors caused him to lose his medal opportunity and they are his "worst memory".

Davis and Kaufman were both timed at a world-record breaking 44.9 seconds, while Spence and Milkha Singh went under the pre-Games Olympic record of 45.9 seconds, set in 1952 by George Rhoden and Herb McKenley, with times of 45.5 and 45.6 seconds, respectively.

At the 1962 Asian Games, held in Jakarta, Milkha Singh won gold in the 400m and in the 4 x 400m relay.

Milkha Singh attended the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where he was entered to compete in the 400m, the 4 x 100m relay and the 4 x 400m relay.

Milkha Singh did not take part in either the 400m or the 4 x 100m relay and the Indian team of Milkha Singh, Makhan Singh, Amrit Pal and Ajmer Singh were eliminated when they finished fourth in the heat stages of the 4 x 400m.

Milkha Singh was promoted from the rank of sepoy to junior commissioned officer in recognition of his successes in the 1958 Asian Games.

Milkha Singh subsequently became Director of Sports in Punjab Ministry of Education, a post he retired from in 1998.

Milkha Singh was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, following his success in 1958.

Milkha Singh thought that the Award was being inappropriately given to people who had little notable involvement as active sports people at all.

Milkha Singh said that "I have been clubbed with sportspersons who are nowhere near the level that I had achieved" and that the award had become devalued.

All of Milkha Singh's medals have been donated to the nation.

Milkha Singh was admitted to the intensive care unit at Fortis Hospital in Mohali on 24 May 2021 with pneumonia caused by COVID-19.

Milkha Singh's condition was, for a while, described as stable, but he died on 18 June 2021 at 11:30pm in Chandigarh.

Milkha Singh was laid on his funeral pyre with a photo of his wife in his hands.

Milkha Singh met Nirmal Saini, a former captain of the Indian women's volleyball team in Ceylon in 1955; they married in 1962 and had three daughters and a son, the golfer Jeev Milkha Singh.

In 1999, they adopted the seven-year-old son of Havildar Bikram Milkha Singh, who had died in the Battle of Tiger Hill.