Question: Consider the following statements:
(1) Milkha Singh is a four-time Asian Games champion and a Commonwealth Games Gold medallist.
(2) He is the only athlete to won gold in 400 metres race at Asian Games & Commonwealth Games.
(3) Milkha Singh was given the title of Flying Sikh by Pakistani General Ayub Khan.
Of the above correct statement/s is/are:
(a) Only (1)
(b) Only (2)
(c) Both (1) & (2)
(d) All of the above
Answer: (d)
Related facts:
- Veteran Indian track and field sprinter Milkha Singh passed away on June 18,2021.He was 91.
- He is a four-time Asian Games gold medallist and 1958 Commonwealth Games Gold medallist at Cardiff.
- He has won two gold medals at the 1958 Asian Games at Tokyo in 200m and 400m races. Later in 1962 Asian Games at Jakarta, he won two gold medals in 400m and 4*400m track event.
- He is the only athlete who won gold in 400 metres race at Asian Games & Commonwealth Games.
- He also represented India in 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo
- His greatest performance came at 1960 Rome Olympic Games where he finished to fourth-place in 45.73 seconds in 400 metres final which was an Indian national record for almost 40 years.
- He was conferred India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, Padma Shri for his sporting achievements.
- He was popularly known as Flying Sikh.The credit for giving the title Flying Sikh to Milkha Singh goes to General Ayub Khan from Pakistan in 1960 when he defeated Pakistan’s Abdul Khaliq, who was considered to be one of the fastest in the world in the 200m sprint.