Flying Sikh: The legend lives on
Express News Service
WE THOUGHT WE WOULD WITNESS HISTORY AT 1960 OLYMPICS
Gurbachan Singh Randhawa
What can I say about Milkha that hasn’t already been said? When I heard the news, I became extremely sad. It’s a black day for Indian sport. He was, inarguably, for that time, one of the best Indian athletes to have emerged. Scratch that, he was probably the best Indian athlete at that time. What set him apart was the way he conducted himself, both on and off the track. On the track, he was a champion. Off it was where he put in the hard yards to become a champion. His training methods, even then, was no compromises. He accepted no short cuts. It’s also why he became one of the fastest across 400m in Asia, if not the world.
Speaking about the world, all of us believed that he would win a medal at the Rome Olympics. You could see the pace he was setting in training. We were all there to cheer him on, we didn’t want to miss it because we thought we would all be witnessing history. We nearly did because he had started so well. But after the 200m mark, I think he made a slight error in judgment that resulted in him finishing fourth. Even then, that was a national record. He was also gracious enough to congratulate me when I was given the opportunity to lead the contingent at the 1964 Games.
That was another thing that set him apart from the rest, he was always gracious with his time. Even though I was a baby of the team in 1960, he welcomed me. But sadly, we didn’t train or camp together. After both of us retired, I travelled to Chandigarh to meet him a few times. After he had caught the virus, I spoke to both his wife and him. It’s just extremely sad. But it’s also a great time to reminisce about one of the country’s greatest champions.
As told to Swaroop Swaminathan GS Randhawa was part of the 1960 Games
