Milkha Singh

Milkha Singh's early life was very hard — he lost most of his family during the Partition of 1947 and reached India as a young refugee. Running became his way to survive and forget.

He ran and ran, until he became the fastest man India had ever seen. At the Rome Olympics in 1960, he was so close to winning a bronze medal that he was only a fraction of a second away.

People called him the Flying Sikh.

Milkha Singh was born around 1929 in Govindpura, in what is now Pakistan. During the violence of Partition he lost several members of his family.

He came to India as a young refugee and, after struggling to find work, joined the Indian Army, where he was introduced to serious athletics.

He went on to win the 400 metres gold at the 1958 Cardiff Commonwealth Games and gold at the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games. At the 1960 Rome Olympics he finished fourth in the 400 metres final, missing bronze by one-tenth of a second, in a national record that stood for nearly forty years.

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1959. His life story became a hit Hindi film, 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' (2013).

He is remembered as one of India's greatest athletes and a symbol of resilience.