BANGALORE: As the country relives the golden days of 'Flying Sikh' through Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Milkha Singh's good friend and 17-time national sprint champion Kenneth Powell saluted the legend and said he was the greatest athlete India ever produced.
"Without doubt he is the greatest Indian athlete as his fourth place in 1960 Rome Olympics came against the world's best. Though PT Usha repeated the feat in Los Angeles in 1984 the field was depleted. Most of the top athletes in that event, who were from the communist bloc, boycotted the Games," Powell said.
Speaking to TOI at his home with cupboards full of trophies and medals, the 73-year-old Powell said he first heard about Milkha during the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games. "That was when he had won the 200m and 400m gold medals," Powell said.
It was a year later that Powell, a feared fast bowler for Colonial Sports Club in Kolar Gold Fields, began training as an athlete after coach Benjamin Frank advised him to concentrate on individual sports. "I met Milkha for the first time at the Delhi National Games in 1960 and two years later I was in the national camp with him in Bangalore," said Powell, who is yet to watch the Milkha biopic.
Cards with Milkha's picture!
"Those days Milkha used to stay in Shilton Hotel on Residency road. There was this joke about him on how he tripped on cold coffee. He was at the restaurant with Makhan Singh and went through the menu which had listed cold coffee.
Obviously, it was costlier than hot coffee. When Makhan ordered hot coffee Milkha asked him to finish fast as he feared they may have to pay more in case it turned cold," Powell said when asked about the popular joke 'I am Milkha Singh, not relaxing'.
Jokes apart Powell said it was because of Milkha that he could train hard in the camps. "It was while training with Milkha that I first ran both the 500m and 600m. It helped in increasing the intensity of workouts," he said.
Powell, grandson of a Welshman who served in an ammunition (cordite) factory in Nilgiris, competed in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics alongside Milkha who was part of the men's 400m relay squad. "Milkha competed only in the relay and I was in the 100m and 200m. I finished fourth in the heats despite beating world No. 10 Zbigniew Syka of Poland and No. 8 Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa of Madagascar with a time of 10.7 seconds," he said.
Powell also fondly remembers the Indian Olympic team's tour of Germany in the same year. "He was hugely popular in Europe. I remember hordes of fans mobbing him in Germany. They also had playing cards with Milkha's picture on the back," said Powell, who was India's flag-bearer at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.
At the first National Inter-state athletics in 1963 in Allahabad, Powell had a great chance to upset Milkha but the mouth-watering clash never happened as the sardar pulled out of the final after posting below-par times in the heats and semis.
"Without doubt he is the greatest Indian athlete as his fourth place in 1960 Rome Olympics came against the world's best. Though PT Usha repeated the feat in Los Angeles in 1984 the field was depleted. Most of the top athletes in that event, who were from the communist bloc, boycotted the Games," Powell said.
Speaking to TOI at his home with cupboards full of trophies and medals, the 73-year-old Powell said he first heard about Milkha during the 1958 Tokyo Asian Games. "That was when he had won the 200m and 400m gold medals," Powell said.
It was a year later that Powell, a feared fast bowler for Colonial Sports Club in Kolar Gold Fields, began training as an athlete after coach Benjamin Frank advised him to concentrate on individual sports. "I met Milkha for the first time at the Delhi National Games in 1960 and two years later I was in the national camp with him in Bangalore," said Powell, who is yet to watch the Milkha biopic.
Cards with Milkha's picture!
"Those days Milkha used to stay in Shilton Hotel on Residency road. There was this joke about him on how he tripped on cold coffee. He was at the restaurant with Makhan Singh and went through the menu which had listed cold coffee.
Obviously, it was costlier than hot coffee. When Makhan ordered hot coffee Milkha asked him to finish fast as he feared they may have to pay more in case it turned cold," Powell said when asked about the popular joke 'I am Milkha Singh, not relaxing'.
Jokes apart Powell said it was because of Milkha that he could train hard in the camps. "It was while training with Milkha that I first ran both the 500m and 600m. It helped in increasing the intensity of workouts," he said.
Powell, grandson of a Welshman who served in an ammunition (cordite) factory in Nilgiris, competed in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics alongside Milkha who was part of the men's 400m relay squad. "Milkha competed only in the relay and I was in the 100m and 200m. I finished fourth in the heats despite beating world No. 10 Zbigniew Syka of Poland and No. 8 Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa of Madagascar with a time of 10.7 seconds," he said.
Powell also fondly remembers the Indian Olympic team's tour of Germany in the same year. "He was hugely popular in Europe. I remember hordes of fans mobbing him in Germany. They also had playing cards with Milkha's picture on the back," said Powell, who was India's flag-bearer at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.
At the first National Inter-state athletics in 1963 in Allahabad, Powell had a great chance to upset Milkha but the mouth-watering clash never happened as the sardar pulled out of the final after posting below-par times in the heats and semis.
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