Milkha Singh: 22 Interesting Facts About the Flying Sikh, His Records and Medals

Published: May 2, 2025, 8:16 PM IST | Updated: October 3, 2026, 4:43 PM IST
Written by Akash Saha | Edited and fact-checked by Amit Saha | Editorial policy

Milkha Singh, “The Flying Sikh”, was one of India’s greatest track athletes. He won four Asian Games gold medals (1958 and 1962) and became the first gold medallist for independent India at the Commonwealth Games, in Cardiff in 1958. At the 1960 Rome Olympics he finished fourth in the 400m final, missing a medal by about a tenth of a second. His time of 45.73 seconds stood as India’s national record for 38 years. He died in Chandigarh on 18 June 2021, aged 91.

He survived the horrors of Partition, joined the Army and rose to become one of the world’s best 400m runners. Here are 22 lesser-known facts about his life, records and legacy, checked against official records and major news reports.

Milkha Singh: quick facts

Detail	Information
Full name	Milkha Singh
Nickname	The Flying Sikh
Born	20 November 1929 (official record), Govindpura, Punjab, in present-day Pakistan
Died	18 June 2021, Chandigarh, aged 91
Event	400m (also 200m and relays)
Asian Games	4 gold: 200m and 400m (1958); 400m and 4x400m relay (1962)
Commonwealth Games	Gold, 440 yards, Cardiff 1958
Olympics	Melbourne 1956, Rome 1960 (fourth, 400m), Tokyo 1964
Best 400m	45.73 seconds (Rome 1960), Indian record until 1998
Awards	Padma Shri (1959); declined the Arjuna Award (2001)
Wife	Nirmal Saini, former India women’s volleyball captain
Children	Three daughters and a son, golfer Jeev Milkha Singh

22 interesting facts about Milkha Singh

1. Born in undivided Punjab: Milkha Singh was born in Govindpura, a village in present-day Pakistan’s Punjab province. His date of birth is officially recorded as 20 November 1929, although other records give 1932 or 1935.
2. A childhood shattered by Partition: He was one of 15 siblings, eight of whom died before Partition. During the 1947 violence his parents, a brother and two sisters were killed, and he saw them die.
3. A refugee in Delhi: After fleeing Govindpura in 1947, the teenage Milkha moved to Delhi and lived with his married sister for a while.
4. Into the Army on the fourth attempt: On the advice of his brother Malkhan, he applied to join the Indian Army. He was rejected three times before being taken in 1951.
5. Spotted in a recruits’ run: At the Electrical Mechanical Engineering Centre in Secunderabad, he finished sixth in a compulsory cross-country run for recruits, which earned him a place in the athletics training squad.
6. National champion by 1958: At the 1958 National Games in Cuttack, he won gold in both the 200m and 400m.
7. A tough Olympic debut: At his first Olympics, Melbourne 1956, he ran the 200m and 400m but went out in the heats.
8. Double gold in Tokyo: At the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, he won both the 200m and the 400m.
9. India’s first Commonwealth Games gold: In 1958 at Cardiff he won the 440 yards in 46.6 seconds, becoming the first gold medallist for independent India at the Commonwealth Games.
10. A promotion for his medals: After his 1958 Asian Games success, the Army promoted him from sepoy to junior commissioned officer.
11. Padma Shri in 1959: The Government of India gave him the Padma Shri, the country’s fourth-highest civilian honour, in 1959.
12. How he became “The Flying Sikh”: In 1960 he beat Pakistan’s star sprinter Abdul Khaliq in a race in Pakistan. Pakistan’s President, General Ayub Khan, told him he had not run but flown, and the name stuck.
13. So close in Rome: In the 1960 Olympic 400m final in Rome, he finished fourth in 45.73 seconds (45.6 hand-timed), missing the bronze medal by about a tenth of a second. That time stood as India’s national record for 38 years, until Paramjit Singh ran 45.70 in 1998.
14. Four Asian Games golds: At the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta, he won the 400m and the 4x400m relay, taking his Asian Games tally to four golds.
15. A third Olympics: He was entered for the 400m and both relays at Tokyo 1964 but ran only the 4x400m relay, where India went out in the heats.
16. Married to a volleyball captain: In 1962 he married Nirmal Saini, a former captain of the India women’s volleyball team, whom he had met in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1955. They had three daughters and a son, the golfer Jeev Milkha Singh.
17. Director of Sports in Punjab: After his running career, he became Director of Sports in the Punjab Ministry of Education and retired from the post in 1998.
18. He turned down the Arjuna Award: When the Arjuna Award was offered to him in 2001, he declined. He said the award was meant for young sportspeople and was being handed out to people who did not deserve it.
19. He adopted a Kargil hero’s son: In 1999 he adopted the seven-year-old son of Havildar Bikram Singh, who had died in the Battle of Tiger Hill during the Kargil War.
20. His medals belong to India: He donated all his medals to the nation. They were displayed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi and later moved to a sports museum in Patiala. In 2003 he set up the Milkha Singh Charitable Trust to help sportspeople in need.
21. One rupee for his life story: His autobiography, The Race of My Life, written with his daughter Sonia Sanwalka, came out in 2013. He sold the film rights for one rupee, plus a share of the profits, to the makers of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013).
22. A wax figure at Madame Tussauds: In September 2017 he unveiled his own wax figure for Madame Tussauds in New Delhi. It shows him in his running pose from the 1958 Commonwealth Games win.

Milkha Singh’s medals and major results

Year	Competition	Event	Result
1956	Olympic Games, Melbourne	200m, 400m	Heats
1958	National Games, Cuttack	200m, 400m	Gold, gold
1958	Asian Games, Tokyo	200m, 400m	Gold, gold
1958	Commonwealth Games, Cardiff	440 yards	Gold (46.6s)
1960	Olympic Games, Rome	400m	Fourth (45.73s)
1962	Asian Games, Jakarta	400m, 4x400m relay	Gold, gold
1964	Olympic Games, Tokyo	4x400m relay	Heats

How did Milkha Singh die?

Milkha Singh died of COVID-19 complications in Chandigarh on 18 June 2021, aged 91. His wife, Nirmal Saini, had died of the same illness five days earlier, on 13 June.

Milkha Singh’s legacy in Indian athletics

For decades, Milkha’s fourth place in Rome was the benchmark every Indian runner was measured against. Indian sprinters are still chasing his example: at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Vithya Ramraj finally broke PT Usha’s 42-year-old 400m hurdles record. Follow India’s medal winners and records from the 2026 Asian Games athletics.

Milkha Singh FAQs

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Sources

• Olympedia: Milkha Singh, Olympic results
• Olympics.com: When Milkha Singh made history at Cardiff 1958
• World Athletics: 38-year-old Indian national record falls
• The Bridge: How 0.1 seconds denied Milkha Singh in Rome 1960
• The Quint: Milkha Singh, the Flying Sikh no one could catch
• The Tribune: Milkha Singh on his Madame Tussauds wax figure
• Onmanorama: Milkha Singh unveils wax statue for Delhi’s Madame Tussauds
• ETV Bharat: India mourns as Milkha Singh ends his race
• Wikipedia: Milkha Singh