|
Milkha Singh (born around the 1930s), also known as ''The Flying Sikh'', is a former Indian track and field sprinter who was introduced to the sport while serving in the Indian Army. He was the only Indian male athlete to win an individual athletics gold medal at a Commonwealth Games until Vikas Gowda won the discus gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He also 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. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour, in recognition of his sporting achievements. The race for which Singh is 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 200m 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 became the Indian national record and held for almost 41 years. From beginnings that saw him orphaned and displaced during the Partition of India, Singh has become a sporting icon in his country. In 2008, journalist Rohit Brijnath described Singh as "the finest athlete India has ever produced". In July 2012, ''The Independent'' said that "India's most revered Olympian is a gallant loser" and noted the paucity of success — 20 medals — achieved by Indian competitors in the Olympic Games despite the country having a population in excess of one billion. ==Early life== Milkha Singh was born on 20 November 1929 according to records in Pakistan, although other official records various state 17 October 1935〔 and 20 November 1935.〔 His birthplace was Govindpura,〔 a village from Muzaffargarh city in Punjab Province, British India (now Muzaffargarh District, Pakistan) in a Sikh Rathore Rajput family. He was one of 15 siblings, eight of whom died before the Partition of India. He was orphaned during the Partition, when his parents, a brother and two sisters were killed in the violence that ensued. He witnessed these killings.〔〔 Escaping the troubles in Punjab, where killings of Hindus and Sikhs were continuing,〔 by moving to Delhi, India, in 1947, Singh lived for a short time with a married sister〔 and was briefly imprisoned at Tihar jail for travelling on a train without a ticket. His sister, Ishvar, sold some jewellery to obtain his release.〔 He spent some time at a refugee camp in Purana Quila and at a resettlement colony in Shahdara, both in Delhi.〔 Singh became disenchanted with his life and considered becoming a dacoit but was instead persuaded by a brother, Malkhan, to attempt recruitment to the Indian Army. He successfully gained entrance on his fourth attempt, in 1951, and while stationed at the Electrical Mechanical Engineering Centre〔 in Secunderabad he was introduced to athletics. He had run the 10 km 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.〔〔 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".〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Milkha Singh」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|