|
 |
Milkha Singh can be described as one of the
most extraordinary athletes of our times. Milkha Singh was a genius
and a genius is never trained. Without any formal training, without
any financial reward and without any emotional support (he lost
his parents during Partition and he had only an elder brother and
a sister to look for help) Milkha Singh took on the greatest athletes
of his time and proved himself as good if not' better. The burst
of speed with which he broke the previous Olympic Games record of
45.9 seconds in 400 metres is now a part of folk lore in Punjab.
The fairy tale is repeated as part of Punjab's rich heritage.
Milkha is no less popular than Pele in Brazil and Maradona in Argentina.
Generation after generation in India will remember fondly his exploits
with which he set the tracks ablaze whenever and wherever he ran.
Rarely has it happened in the Olympic history when so many athletes
went on to break the existing record at one go. Undoubtedly , at
Rome Milkha ran the greatest race of his time, this he had to, since
he had on blocks with him world's greatest athletes of his time.
Who would have dared to challenge their might, except Milkha, who
though respected them yet never feared them. He simply ran-SUPERB.
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 seconds 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,
Milkha 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 metres while Mel Spence of South Africa timed` 45.5 seconds
to finish third. Milkha Singh who actually led the pack was ultimately
fourth, timing 45.6 seconds, a difference of just 0.1 second from
the bronze. Thus upto 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 separates the winner from the loser.
Twentyeight 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 metres record in the
National Games at Cuttack. The same year he established new records
in the 200 and 400 metres 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 metres, Abdul
Khaliq of Pakistan. It was said that Milkha did not run the race
but he flew.
Milkha Singh is sad to find that his exploits 'and achievements
have not gone so far to inspire the younger generation. He is critical
of the young athletes who aspire to reach the top via short cut
and refuse to sweat out in the field. The government offers a number
of facilities, there re a number of awards and scholarships, professional
colleges offer seats to sportsman, jobs are secured for them, yet
sportsmen of high order never emerge. It is the age of mediocrity.
Milkha Singh is, at present, Additional Director of Sports and Youth
Programme, Education Department. Married to former international
player, Nirmaj, he has one son and three daughters. His son, Chiranjeev
Milkha Singh, is a top golfer and represented India in the Beijing
Asian Games in 1990. 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 hair-do since
`partka' 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.
Milkha Singh had so much conditioned himself that at any given time
and place he could run two races in a day. This superiority of strength
had enabled him to win a number of races in the world. However,
this superiority did not stand him in good stead at Rome for the
simple reason that there was a gap of two days between semifinal
and final races. This made Milkha Singh nervous. He felt very dispirited
and off-colour. A day before the race Milkha Singh felt disturbed.
But at that time a Punjab minister, Mr Umrao Singh, who was the
then president of the All-India Athletics Association, came into
his room and took him out for fresh air. This eased the tension
a bit and his mind was taken off the competition. The minister took
him to some of the wonderful places of the city of Rome and later
dropped him at his hotel.
Though Milkha Singh was feeling normal the next day, luck did not
help him a bit. While other top athletes got better lanes, Milkha
Singh was placed in the fifth. The lot put a German athlete in the
first lane, the American in the second, a Pole in the third and
a South African in the fourth while the second German athlete was
placed in the sixth lane.
According to Milkha's assessment, the German was the weakest of
all the other athletes. Thus being in the fifth lane, Milkha could
only see the second German athlete. Thus a weak athlete in front
was no advantage.
Therefore, Milkha Singh took off the blocks with a great burst of
speed, and managed to lead the pack within 200 metres. But Milkha
Singh was running at a dangerously fast speed, so he thought of
slowing down a bit. As soon as he checked his speed, in a flash
three runners sped past Milkha and gained on him. Even though Milkha
drew the last reserves of energy to overtake the runners, he failed
to erase the deficit of five or six yards in the last 100 metres.
Since he found it impossible to catch up with the first two athletes,
Milkha Singh tried to outpace South Africa's Melcolm Spence whom
he had beaten in the Commonwealth Games. But as ill-luck would have
it, Spence got himself into the first two runners and Milkha found
himself unable to catch up with him. Almost all the first four athletes
crossed the line one after another. It was a photo finish. Thus
the announcement was held up. When the film was washed and the results
were announced Milkha Singh lay shattered. In sheer despair Milkha
Singh took to drinking to drown his disappointment. No matter how
hard he tried he failed to remove the scar of defeat from his mind.
Two events stand out clear in the life of Milkha Singh, one the
Partition when his parents were butchered; and second the defeat
at Rome. Therefore, when an invitation came Milkha Singh's way to
run in Pakistan, he was not enthusiastic about it. He hated the
place for, he had lost his parents and other relatives in a traumatic
experience. However, he was persuaded to run against Asia's best
runner, Abdul Khaliq of Pakistan. Khaliq was the best runner that
Pakistan had produced and he had a string of victories in the 200
metres in Asia.
But as the 200 metres race began, Milkha Singh outpaced the Pakistani
from the word `go' and won in one of the most convincing manners.
The people were wonder struck at the pace at which Milkha Singh
had run the race. It was announced that Milkha had not run but had
flown. It was during this race that Milkha Singh earned the `title'
of the "Flying Sikh." The whole stadium was packed to
capacity and the people had gathered to see the key contest between
two of Asia's finest runners. So when the Indian runner breasted
the tape, the 30,000 burqa-clad women uncovered their faces to have
a clear view of the Sikh wonder athlete.
Milkha Singh was taken to the VIP gallery and introduced to Pakistan
President General Ayub who was himself present at the stadium in
Lahore.
Milkha Singh was awarded the prestigious `Padam Shri' by the President
of India in 1958 when he won the gold medal in the British and Commonwealth
Games. No Indian athlete has won a gold medal in the 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 wants to set up an athletic academy
in or around Chandigarh so that he can end the draught of top athletes.
|
|
