Milkha singh autobiography for kids

Milkha Singh 20 November — 18 June , [ a ] [ 2 ] also known as " The Flying Sikh ", was an Indian track and field sprinter who was introduced to the sport while serving in the Indian Army. He is the only athlete to win gold at metres at the Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games. He has won gold medals in the and Asian Games.

Singh was awarded the Padma Shri in , India's fourth-highest civilian honour, in recognition of his sporting achievements. The race for which Singh was best remembered is his fourth-place finish in the metres final at the Olympic Games, which he had entered as one of the favourites. He led the race till the m mark before easing off, allowing others to pass him.

Various records were broken in the race, which required a photo-finish and saw American Otis Davis being declared the winner by one-hundredth of a second over German Carl Kaufmann. Singh's fourth-place time of From beginnings that saw him orphaned and displaced during the Partition of India , Singh has become a sporting icon in his country.

In , journalist Rohit Brijnath described Singh as "the finest athlete India has ever produced". He was one of 15 siblings, eight of whom died before the Partition of India. He was orphaned during the Partition when his parents, a brother and two sisters were killed in the violence that ensued.

Singh's autobiography, The Race of My Life (cowritten with his daughter Sonia Sanwalka), was published in Singh died on June 18, , in Chandigarh.

He witnessed these killings. Escaping the troubles in Punjab, where killings of Hindus and Sikhs were continuing, [ 9 ] by moving to Delhi, India, in , Singh lived for a short time with the family of his married sister [ 8 ] and was briefly imprisoned at Tihar jail for travelling on a train without a ticket. His sister, Ishvar, sold some jewellery to obtain his release.

Milkha became disenchanted with his life and considered becoming a dacoit [ b ] but was instead persuaded by one of his brothers, Malkhan, to attempt recruitment to the Indian Army.