File:Milkha_Singh.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Key facts
- Nickname
- The Flying Sikh
- Nationality
- Indian
- Born
- ( 1929-11-20 ) 20 November 1929, Govindpura , Punjab , British India , (now Punjab , Pakistan )
- Died
- 18 June 2021 (2021-06-18) (aged 91), Chandigarh , India
- Occupation
- runner
- Employer s
- Retired; formerly of the Indian Army and Government of Punjab, India
- Spouse
- Nirmal Saini ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1963 ; died 2021 )
- Allegiance
- India
- Branch
- Indian Army
- Service years
- 1951–1964
- Rank
- Honorary Captain
- Awards
- Padma Shri
- Sport
- Track and field
- Event
- Sprinting
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Family name
- Singh
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- India
- Place of death
- Chandigarh
- Spouse
- Nirmal Kaur
- Child
- Jeev Milkha Singh
- Occupation
- athletics competitor
- Employer
- Government of Punjab
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Religion
- Sikhism
- Participant in
- 1956 Summer Olympics
- Sport
- athletics
- Country for sport
- India
- Mass
- 66
- Military branch
- Indian Army
- Image
- Milkha Singh.jpg
- Height
- 172
Show 7 more facts
- date of birth
- 1932-11-20
- Commons category
- Milkha Singh
- nickname
- Flying Sikh
- date of death
- 2021-06-18
- cause of death
- COVID-19
- manner of death
- natural causes
- sports discipline competed in
- 200 metres
Sources (7)
via Wikidata · CC0
~12 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Milkha Singh (20 November 1929 – 18 June 2021), also known as "The Flying Sikh", was an Indian track and field sprinter who was introduced to the sport while serving in the Indian Army. He is the athlete to win gold at 400 metres at the Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games. He has won gold medals in the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games. He represented India in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Singh was awarded the Padma Shri in 1959, 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. He led the race till the 200 m mark before easing off, allowing others to pass him. Various records were broken in the race, which required a photo-finish and saw American Otis Davis being declared the winner by one-hundredth of a second over German Carl Kaufmann. Singh's fourth-place time of 45.73 seconds was the Indian national record for almost 40 years.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Milkha Singh” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.