Milkha Singh

Image of Milkha Singh
I would push myself so much that in the end I would collapse and I would have to be admitted to hospital, I would pray to God to save me, promise that I would be more careful in future. And then I would do it all over again.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
I did not even know what athletics was; the Army taught me everything.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
There are three legends in sports - Dhyan Chand, myself and Sachin Tendulkar. People will always remember three of us in Indian Sports.
- Milkha Singh
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I enjoyed watching 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' very much. Many such sports films should be made so that the upcoming generation draws inspiration from the sportspersons of our country, win medals at the Olympics and Asian Games, and make India proud.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
When I started running in 1951, running shoes weren't even produced in India.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
Cricket has driven down the standard of every other sport.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
Yes, I started by running barefoot. My feet used to slip in canvas shoes. So we put them aside and ran barefoot.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
There is dirty politics in sports federations.
- Milkha Singh
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I am happy with the Padma Shri. What difference does it make to me if I am now given a higher Padma Award?
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
If you want to make your children a successful doctor, engineer or a sportsperson then you will have to put in double the hard work than that of your children.
- Milkha Singh
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When 'Bhaag Mikha Bhaag' was released, no matter where I went - Australia, England or Canada, people around the world used to say 'Farhan is Milkha Singh's ditto copy.'
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
I will surely watch 'Toofaan.'
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
I hope they make many more sports films in future.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
I loved Farhan's look in the 'Toofaan' teaser. He has made a wonderful physique for the role of a boxer.
- Milkha Singh
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In the Army, I was running for India and I was a soldier who could have died for India.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
I did not know about awards. I just wanted to break the world record and the Olympic record.
- Milkha Singh
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I have no angst that I have not got the Bharat Ratna, it does not matter to me.
- Milkha Singh
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I came from a remote village, I didn't know what running was, or the Olympics.
- Milkha Singh
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My experience made me so hard that I wasn't even scared of death.
- Milkha Singh
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When I used to go to Bombay to run, I would often meet Raj Kapoor and he would take me to RK Studio.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
I didn't watch a film after the 1960s. I have no idea who all were the good heroes, directors or producers in the '80s. The only film I watched after all those years was my own film.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
Exercise has kept me safe during COVID-19.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
If you look at history of athletics in the country almost all champions have hailed from the villages.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
I do not blame the government for not providing infrastructure to athletes. They have given everything for training of athletes.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
Sports authority should hire coaches only on contract basis in athletics and also in other games. The coaches should be told to produce medals in upcoming Olympic Games. Only then will they work day and night and push sportsmen and women to work harder.
- Milkha Singh
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The new generation I feel does not know about Milka Singh, they don't know about the hard work I did, what struggles I went through, in Pakistan and India, they know just the name.
- Milkha Singh
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If anyone has it in him to work hard, he can rise from the earth and touch the sky.
- Milkha Singh
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I am not against cricket, but it is dominating this country. All other games are finished, because the media shows cricket 24 hours a day, the papers are full of cricketers' photographs.
- Milkha Singh
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In my determination to avoid failure, I set myself a goal to work towards, that is, to transform myself into a running machine.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
Every morning I would rise at the crack of dawn and after the usual ablutions, would get into my sports kit and dash off to the track, where I would run two or three miles cross-country, in the company of my coach.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
No matter what the weather was, I would practice for five hours every morning and evening, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty-five days a year. It was this disciplined routine that moulded me into the athlete I became.
- Milkha Singh
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No one else could do what P.T. Usha has done for this country.
- Milkha Singh
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Gold slipped from my hand at the Rome Olympics and then from P.T. Usha at the Los Angeles Olympics. But it is my dream to see a boy or girl from India winning gold in the Olympics before my death.
- Milkha Singh
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I am happy that my son has been responsible for putting India on the world map in golf.
- Milkha Singh
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Athletes like me, PT Usha, Anju Bobby Gerorge have reached finals in Olympics, and it's not easy to reach the finals. If Indians were genetically inferior then we wouldn't have reached even finals.
- Milkha Singh
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Not every school in India has athletics as a compulsory sport. They should make it compulsory.
- Milkha Singh
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My parents had a small piece of land to earn a living from, but my father always wanted to educate his children.
- Milkha Singh
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I don't even know when my father admitted me to school. During those days in villages, people did not remember the exact date a child was born. It was usually only the season that they remembered.
- Milkha Singh
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The fact is that children get spoiled in bad company.
- Milkha Singh
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I tried to join the army two or three times.
- Milkha Singh
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If Milkha Singh is known as the Flying Sikh in the whole world today, the credit goes to General Ayub and to Pakistan.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
We had nothing in our times. The athletes and sportsmen in those days didn't earn much money. We worked for the applause, people's appreciation inspired and motivated us, we ran for the country.
- Milkha Singh
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In my time, talking to a girl was like talking to God.
- Milkha Singh
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Whenever I returned after winning a race, my friends in the Army would lift me on their shoulders and break into Bhangra, irrespective of whether they knew the dance or not.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
I have been on the deathbed so many times and had to be given oxygen while training. I did not know if I would survive, but the roar of applause would lift me up.
- Milkha Singh
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A child, when orphaned, can become anything. If I had not joined the Army, who knows, I may have become a dacoit. I give all credit to the Army; they found Milkha Singh.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
If today any athlete were to put in as much effort as Milkha Singh did, he can conquer the universe and his record will remain unbroken for at least 100 years.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
I didn't know what off-season meant. I could sprint barefoot, anywhere, anytime and on any surface.
- Milkha Singh
Image of Milkha Singh
The first time I ever wore a shoe was in 1955 during the trials for the Melbourne Olympics.
- Milkha Singh