Sports

No One's Flying Past Him

Milkha Singh is sceptical about Paramjeet breaking his record

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No One's Flying Past Him
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AT the Delhi Golf Club which played host to the Hero Honda Masters last week, Milkha Singh was indeed the hero if media attention is anything to go by. He certainly seems to be garnering more publicity for being the displaced Indian icon than the new 400 m national record holder, sprinter Paramjeet Singh, is getting for that long overdue record-breaking feat.

But has Paramjeet really broken the Flying Sikh's record? While Paramjeet clocked 45.70 secs, Milkha had set a mark of 45.6 secs at the Rome Olympics in 1960, when hand clocks were used to time runners. That changed in the seventies when the International Amateur Athletics Federation converted all hand-held timings into electronic timings, and accordingly, revised Milkha's 45.6 seconds to 45.73 secs. The IAAF adopted a formula where 0.24 secs were added to all existing 100 and 200 m timings up to 1968. For the 400 m, it added 0.14 seconds as the race finishes at the same point where it begins.

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 But Milkha disagrees with the conversions. Says he: "We used to run on cinder tracks. Did the IAAF take that into account while converting? Athletes these days run on synthetic tracks. You don't waste energy on them as we used to.

Zameen asman ka pharak hai (there's a world of a difference). We ran with longer and heavier spikes. These days they have bush spikes. I'm happy Paramjeet has come close to my mark but my time at Rome was 45.6 seconds. He hasn't even equalled that. Plus he's done it in India, not abroad."

 To which Paramjeet says: "My record is an indisputable fact, whatever Milkha Singh might say. I understand nobody likes their record to be broken, but he shouldn't be saying all this."

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While Milkha's time was a national standard for 38 years, Paramjeet's current best is still way above what international athletes are returning these days. Says Milkha: "Athletes are hitting 43.23 secs. That's a good 20-25 yards faster than what Param-jeet's running now. However, I will still be presenting him with a cheque of Rs 1 lakh at a function I'll ask the AAFI to organise at the Nehru stadium. If he repeats his time in the Bangkok Asian Games, I'll present him with another one lakh." Paramjeet welcomes the offer even if Milkha seems grudging about it. "Look, Rs 2 lakh or 1 lakh won't make a great difference in my life," he says. "But if he gives me the money gladly, I'll accept the honour." Milkha, however, remains sceptical about Paramjeet's abilities. "I doubt he'll be in the medals (at the Bangkok Games) even if he repeats this time. The Chinese, Japanese and the Sri Lankans are running these timings.

Bhai record todo to zara zor laga kar todo. Apne ghar mein baithe baithe thori toda jata hai." (If you have to break a record, do it convincingly. You can't sit at home and break records.) The Flying Sikh may have a point there.

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