Nicknamed the "Flying Sikh" for his incredible speed, Milkha Singh, one of the very first sporting legends from India, turns 90 today.
Politicians, celebrities and fans took to social media to salute the legendary sports icon.
Here's wishing a very Happy Birthday to The Flying Sikh Milkha Singh. It was a great privilege presenting him the Lifetime Achievement Honour at #ISH2019! 🙏🏻🙏🏻#bluerising #happybirthday #milkhasingh #legend pic.twitter.com/gNu4bPuYl4
— Indian Sports Honours (@sportshonours) November 20, 2019
Happy Birthday to the Flying Singh of India - #MilkhaSingh Ji. May you live a long and happy life.
— Gopal Krishna Agarwal (@gopalkagarwal) November 20, 2019
I would also like to urge my young folks to take inspiration from Milkha Ji's life and indulge in sports and fitness activities a lot more.
Happy Birthday Record Breaker #MilkhaSingh!
— Darshan Bhatt (@DarshanBhatt22) November 20, 2019
You can achieve anything in life it just depends on how desperate you're to achieve it. 💫
- Milkha singh pic.twitter.com/9Cjf0rj8UD
Wishing you a very happy b'day #MilkhaSingh
— AlNumero (@AlNumero2) November 20, 2019
Milkha Singh name adds to best fortunate vibration number 6, which means fame , hormony 😍😍😍#Tathastue24 pic.twitter.com/EAqYYLVsfpSingh, a former Indian Army officer, ran at an average speed of 19.8 miles per hour in the 400 meters final in the 1960 Rome Olympics. He also won gold medals in the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games.
Impressed by his speed in 1960, the then President of Pakistan, General Ayub Khan famously dubbed Singh the “Flying Sikh.”
In 2013, Indian director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra presented portrayed Singh's life story on the silver screen featuring Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar.
The movie showed how the Flying Sikh survived the communal violence that washed over India and Pakistan in 1947, how he became orphaned, got lost, grew up as a vagabond in his sister’s family, lost the love of his life and yet, despite everything, made it to become the pride of his country.
Singh was awarded India’s fourth-highest civilian honour – the Padma Shri - in recognition of his sporting achievement in 1959.
