Thursday, July 10, 2008

MILKHA SINGH - THE ATHLETE


Flying Sikh Milkha Singh, a name to be weighed with times, is unquestionably the best track and field athlete India has ever produced . His records vouch for it. His national record in the 400 mtrs for 33 years and Asian record for 26 years, Milkha Singh became a household name when he clocked 45.6 to finish fourth at the Rome Olympic in I960.It was the closest any Indian athlete had come to winning an Olympic medal. He still retains the monopoly of the 200 meters, his 20.7 seconds clocked during the Indo-Pakistan meet at Lahore on the 31st January 1960.Born on 1931 in Layalpur in what now Pakistan, Milkha Singh was a child of the trauma of partition. His parents were killed in front of him. He carried the pain of this tragedy with him reaching Delhi, enrolled himself with the EME Corps of the Army. And with that began his affair with athletics.Encouraged by his officers, he soon to unfold his talent on the track went on to win the second prize 200 and 400 metres race at the Services Athletics Meet held in 1955.Practicing in his own name, he improved his performance to establish him as a front ranker at the 1956 National Games in Patiala. He won both the events and two years later, at the Cuttack Nationals, set national records in both. His 46.1 in 400 metres in the National Games in 1960 was acclaimed as a world class performance.He represented the country in the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, Still too raw, he was eliminated in the heats. But the experience stood him in good stead and prepared him for the Asian Games in Tokyo, Commonwealth Games in Cardif? and th Olympics in Rome. He won the 200 and 400 metres in the Asian Games with timings of 21.6 and 47 seconds respectively and went on to clock 46,16 seconds Ear the Gold in the Commonwealth Games. His Asian record of 45.63 seconds stood for 26 years before it was bettered by Japan's S u s u m u Takona.The biggest moment of his life came in the historic 400 metres race in the 1960 Rome Olympics. He was one of the favourites for the Gold and had had a fantastic run-up to the occasion, having won 77 of the 80 races, including the Commonwealth Games, that season. He would have surely won a medal at the Rome Olympics but for a tactical mistake. He was racing ahead of the field in the first 200 metres. But he misjudged his pace and in a split second, before he could revitalize thoughts, three others had sped past him.Source : "India's Highest Sports Awards and Those Who Won Them" by S.S.Gandhi, The Defence Review

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