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Athletics

Did you know Milkha Singh had donated all his medals before his death?

Having competed in a total of 80 races in his career, the Flying Sikh returned with medals in 77 of them! But, he did not own them during his final few years.

Milkha Singh (Source: Times of India)
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Milkha Singh (Source: Times of India)

By

Abhijit Nair

Published: 19 Jun 2021 9:24 AM GMT

What, according to you, is the most treasured possession of an athlete? Obviously, the medals he/ she have won during their career, right?

While one can surely argue with the above statement, one cannot really deny the fact that the success of any athlete's career is more or less decided on the basis of the number of trophies or medals they have won. This is the exact same reason by many consider Mahendra Singh Dhoni as probably the greatest cricketer of all time, and it is also the exact same reason why a certain Lionel Messi is heavily trolled for his performances with the Argentinian national team.

But, what if someone decides to give away, or rather donate, all the medals he has won in his career?

This is precisely what the legendary Indian sprinter Milkha Singh did.

Milkha Singh is undoubtedly the greatest ever track athlete to have emerged out of India. The four Asian Games gold medal and a Commonwealth Games gold he had against his name is a testament to this fact. Moreover, his fourth-place finish at the 1960 Rome Olympics is something that will be etched in the memories of the Indian sports fans forever.

Having competed in a total of 80 races in his career, the Flying Sikh returned with medals in 77 of them! But, he did not own them during his final few years.

Milkha Singh donated all the medals he had won in his career to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. All the medals were later shifted to a sports museum in Patiala.

From almost being caught by the police for stealing to being recognised as one of the greatest athletes from the country and donating his achievements for the nation, Milkha Singh was a real superhero in the truest of sense.


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