Milkha Singh’s record breaker Paramjit Singh pays tribute to his idol

Inspired by Milkha Singh he broke the very record that the iconic sprinter had against his name for 38 years and as Paramjit Singh mourned his idols demise he said he would forever cherish the time spent in awe of and with the pioneering legendSingh broke Milkhas 400m national record in 1998 38 years after Milkha set it in the Rome Olympics for a fourthplace finish The 91yearold who died at a Chandigarh hospital on Friday due to postCOVID complications ran that memorable race in 456 secondsMilkha Singh Ji was so kind and generous that I was invited for a dinner at his place in Chandigarh after I broke his national record He told me I should work harder to achieve success at the global level He himself was a man of selfdiscipline and hard work Paramjit told PTI on SaturdayThat was the first time I met him in person and I was in awe of him I was with my coach Milkha Singh Ji said he wants to see an Indian win an Olympic medal before he dies said the 49yearold who broke the national record during the National Championships in KolkataAlso ReadWTC Final Day 2 India battle on gloomy day reach 1463 before play stoppedMilkha was officially handtimed at 456 seconds during his fourthplace finish in the Olympics though an unofficial electronic timer at the Games clocked him at 4573 secondsYears later electronic timers were installed at all international events and 014 seconds were added to all hand timings to compare with electronic timingsMilkhas handtimed 456 was converted to 4574 seconds in electronic timing which Paramjit bettered by running 4570 seconds in 1998Milkha had refused to accept his electronic timing of 4574 seconds and had famously declared in 1991 that nobody could break the record set by himThe current 400m national record is in the name of Muhammed Anas Yahiya with a timing of 4521 secondsParamjit who was a part of the silver medalwinning 4x400m relay quartet in the 1998 Asian Games and also represented the country in the 2000 Sydney Olympics said Milkha always encouraged him to work hardI met him a few times after breaking his national record He would always ask what I was doing He would advise me to work harder and maintain self discipline Singh recalledIt is a huge loss for the country that Milkha Singh Ji is no more He was the pioneering legend of Indian athleticsAsked about Milkhas promise to give Rs 2 lakh to the athlete who broke his national record Paramjit said He had said that but I have no grudge that I did not get itI am happy that I had broken his record He was my role model when I started running I am here because of himI was playing volleyball earlier Then I shifted to 400m race and my coach used to tell me that I have the potential to break Milkha Singhs national record So Milkha Singh Ji has been my inspirationAlso Read Euro 2020 Germany thump Portugal with thrilling 42 win to resurrect hopesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever