It needed a gold medal by none other than the legendary Milkha Singh in the quarter mile at Cardiff Commonwealth Games in 1958 to make a lasting mark on the Indian imagination.
Till then India's participation in the event, which was originally called British Empire Games at its birth in 1930, was, more or less, anonymous.
Its name had changed to British Empire and Commonwealth Games when Milkha sprinted to his historic victory at Cardiff as more and more British colonies became sovereign states though they still chose to maintain a link with their former rulers. The words 'British Empire' have since been shed.
Cardiff was the last time that the Commonwealth Games track and field events were held according to the old linear measures. So it was actually the 440 yards that Milkha won in an untimely spray, breasting the tape in 46.16 seconds. ahead of a formidable opponent from South Africa, Malcolm Spence, yes, the same runner who pipped our man to the bronze medal in a memorable 400m race at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
In recognition of the Cardiff gold medal, following an Asian Games golden double at Tokyo, Milkha was awarded the Padma Shri. The story goes that when Mrs Vijayalakshmi Pandit, then India's high commissioner in London travelled to Cardiff to personally convey the news, Milkha, the simple soldier that he then was, wondered what all the fuss was about.
That was the Milkha old track fans would like to fondly remember. A commissioned rank, a pip on the shoulder, would have made better sense. However, a higher station in life in civil street came with the late Partap Singh Kairon, then Punjab CM, appointing the Flying Sikh as a deputy director in Punjab's department of sports.
Half a century after Milkha's golden triumph at Cardiff, India has failed to produce a Commonwealth Games track and field gold medalist. Milkha himself fears there may be no athletics gold medalist this time around also at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in October. Last time at Melbourne in 2006, India could win only three medals of the 160 up for grabs.
The Commonwealth arenas may not be the stiffest of tests for wrestlers. But a gold medal is a gold medal.The gold that Lila Ram brought back from Cardiff gave Indian wrestlers an idea: that the CW Games wrestling contests were a happy hunting ground for medals.
They reaped a rich harvest in the 1970 Edinburgh games. Given a golden start by Delhi's mighty midget Ved Prakash, all of 16, in the light flyweight division, and Sudesh, his mate from the late Guru Hanuman's Birla Mills akhara, there was a medal for India in every weight category.
The success of Ved and Sudesh put Delhi wrestling and Guru Hanuman's mud akhara on the national map. Boys began pouring in from all places to the akhara in the hope of making a name for themselves, the way Ved and Sudesh had done.
Ved, a scrawny little Brahmin lad would often get beaten up by boys in his mohalla till his father took him to the wrestling guru. "Make him into a man who can take care of himself," he told Guru Hanuman.
The rest, as they say, is history. When he returned from Edinburgh he was given an aarti welcome by his two older sisters. Both boys were taken out in a procession along with their guru to their akhara in Delhi's crowded Subzi Mandi area.
source : Times of India
Till then India's participation in the event, which was originally called British Empire Games at its birth in 1930, was, more or less, anonymous.
Its name had changed to British Empire and Commonwealth Games when Milkha sprinted to his historic victory at Cardiff as more and more British colonies became sovereign states though they still chose to maintain a link with their former rulers. The words 'British Empire' have since been shed.
Cardiff was the last time that the Commonwealth Games track and field events were held according to the old linear measures. So it was actually the 440 yards that Milkha won in an untimely spray, breasting the tape in 46.16 seconds. ahead of a formidable opponent from South Africa, Malcolm Spence, yes, the same runner who pipped our man to the bronze medal in a memorable 400m race at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
In recognition of the Cardiff gold medal, following an Asian Games golden double at Tokyo, Milkha was awarded the Padma Shri. The story goes that when Mrs Vijayalakshmi Pandit, then India's high commissioner in London travelled to Cardiff to personally convey the news, Milkha, the simple soldier that he then was, wondered what all the fuss was about.
That was the Milkha old track fans would like to fondly remember. A commissioned rank, a pip on the shoulder, would have made better sense. However, a higher station in life in civil street came with the late Partap Singh Kairon, then Punjab CM, appointing the Flying Sikh as a deputy director in Punjab's department of sports.
Half a century after Milkha's golden triumph at Cardiff, India has failed to produce a Commonwealth Games track and field gold medalist. Milkha himself fears there may be no athletics gold medalist this time around also at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in October. Last time at Melbourne in 2006, India could win only three medals of the 160 up for grabs.
The Commonwealth arenas may not be the stiffest of tests for wrestlers. But a gold medal is a gold medal.The gold that Lila Ram brought back from Cardiff gave Indian wrestlers an idea: that the CW Games wrestling contests were a happy hunting ground for medals.
They reaped a rich harvest in the 1970 Edinburgh games. Given a golden start by Delhi's mighty midget Ved Prakash, all of 16, in the light flyweight division, and Sudesh, his mate from the late Guru Hanuman's Birla Mills akhara, there was a medal for India in every weight category.
The success of Ved and Sudesh put Delhi wrestling and Guru Hanuman's mud akhara on the national map. Boys began pouring in from all places to the akhara in the hope of making a name for themselves, the way Ved and Sudesh had done.
Ved, a scrawny little Brahmin lad would often get beaten up by boys in his mohalla till his father took him to the wrestling guru. "Make him into a man who can take care of himself," he told Guru Hanuman.
The rest, as they say, is history. When he returned from Edinburgh he was given an aarti welcome by his two older sisters. Both boys were taken out in a procession along with their guru to their akhara in Delhi's crowded Subzi Mandi area.
source : Times of India