courtesy: twitter@ TOI SPORTS
courtesy: quotepark.com
Milkha Singh was born in 1935, with his nickname being “The Flying Sikh”, he was a former Indian track and field sprinter. His career in track sports began in Indian Army, and as of 2013 he was the only Indian male athlete to win an individual athletics gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. A hindi movie ‘Bhag Milka Bhag’ was made on his life story which was a very popular film during 2013.
On Friday, June 18, Milkha Singh, the legendary athlete and Asian Good Medalist, popularly know as the “Flying Singh” has died at the age of 91.
The hospital has released a statement saying that his health had turned critical as he developed complications, including fever and drop in the oxygen saturation level. Sadly the Flying Singh is no more.
On June 13, Sunday, his wife, Nirmal Milkha Singh, former Indian volleyball captain, had also died after suffering from COVID-19 and had been fighting the virus for 19 days at the Mohali Hospital.
A few quotes from the “Flying Sikh” that will motivate you:
Discipline, hard work, will power….My experience made me so hard that I wasn’t even scared of death.” But one story reflects his desire clearest.
You can achieve anything in life. It just depends on how desperate you are to achieve it.
I was moved to tears by the thought that from being nobody the night before, I had become somebody.
When I reflect upon my life, I can clearly see how my passion for running has dominated my life. The images that flash through my mind are those running….running…running…
Our American coach, Dr. [Arthur W] Howard, had accompanied the Indian team [to Cardiff] ….Because of Dr. Howard’s motivation and advice, I won heat after heat and effortlessly reached the finals.
Each of these moments brings back bitter sweet memories as they represent the different stages of my life, a life that has been kept afloat by my intense determination to triumph in my chosen vocation.
He emphasized that I must maintain my speed for the first 300 metres, and then give it my all in the last 100 metres. He said that if I ran the first 300 metres at full speed, Spence would do the same, although that was not his running strategy.
I would not stop till I had filled up a bucket with my sweat. I would push myself so much that in the end I would collapse and I would have to be admitted to hospital, I would pray to God to save me, promise that I would be more careful in future. And then I would do it all over again.
The track, to me, was like an open book, in which I could read the meaning and purpose of life. I revered it like I would the sanctum sanctorum in a temple, where the deity resided and before whom I would humbly prostrate myself as a devotee. To keep myself steadfast to my goal, I renounced all pleasures and distractions, to keep myself fit and healthy, and dedicated my life to the ground where I could practice and run. Running had thus become my God, my religion and my beloved