1. MILKHA SINGH :
Milkha Singh (born 1935), also known as The
Flying Sikh, is a former Indian track and
field sprinter who was introduced to the sport while
serving in the Indian Army. As of 2013, he is the
only Indian male athlete to win an
individual athletics gold medal at a Commonwealth
Games. He represented India in the 1956 Summer
Olympics in Melbourne, 1960 Summer Olympics in
Rome and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He
was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest
civilian honor, in recognition of his sporting
achievements.
The race for which Singh is best remembered is his
fourth-place finish in the 400 meters final at the
1960 Olympic Games, which he had entered as
one of the favorites. He led the race for some time
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 45.73 became the Indian
national record and held for almost 40 years.
From beginnings that saw
him orphaned and displaced during the Partition of
India, Milkha Singh has become a sporting icon in