Milkha Singh- A hero before Tokyo 1964 and after Tokyo 2020 Olympics…

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Harpreet Sandhu
Author Details

Olympic Lifting and Track & Field

Vancouver, Canada

Milkha Singh, who represented India in Tokyo 1964 Olympics, a name which will never be forgotten by Indian Athletics. It was the summer of 1997 when I first met Milkha Singh. Share on XIt was a mere co-incident. Our team arrived at Sector 7 athletics track of Chandigarh Amateur Athletics Association, a federation which Mr. Singh lead for a long time as a President. He advanced his hand for a handshake, speaking in Hindi, “Where are you coming from?” Our conversation started formally yet ended informally with a friendly agreement to run relays representing Union Territory, Chandigarh, and delivering a Gold and a Silver Medal for the Legend. 

In the early 2000s, When I left India, my wallet contained a piece of paper that had his autographs. I still may have that wallet somewhere in the archives with his signatures intact almost a quarter-century later. I understood his pain of Bharat not winning an Olympic medal in athletics and I am doing what I can at the personal level to achieve what he once dreamed of. ITC International’s athletes from the Indian diaspora would always be inspired by your heroic story. Our meeting of August 07, 1997, happened to be the last meeting ever. Rest in peace.

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Harpreet Sandhu

HARPREET SANDHU

COACH, Olympic Lifting/ Track & Field

Vancouver, Canada

ITC.International

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