The "Flying Sikh", Milkha Singh was born in Faisalabad, Pakistan on 8 October 1935. He had lost his parents at the time of Partition. He had no formal training of any kind. Milkha Singh tried to enroll in the army, but was rejected thrice. He was finally able to join in the army's electrical mechanical engineering branch in 1952. Once in the armed forces, his coach Havildar Gurdev Singh inspired him. He sweated it out everyday and worked very hard on his practice. He came into the limelight during the National Games at Patiala in 1956. In 1958, he broke the 200 metres and 400 meters records in the National Games at Cuttack. 

His greatest and probably the saddest moment came when he finished fourth in a photofinish at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He also represented the country in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He held the Olympic 400 m record in the 1960 Rome Olympics, besides winning the Gold medal in the 1958 Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games in 1958 ( in the 200m & 400 m categories ) and the Asian Games in 1962 (in 200 metres). 

It was a race in Pakistan in 1962, where he defeated Abdul Khaliq, the winner of the 100 metres gold at the Tokyo Asian Games, where he was christened the 'The Flying Sikh" by the Pakistani President Ayub Khan. His son, Jeev Milkha Singh has gone on to become a top-ranking international golfer. 

Milkha Singh was awarded the Padam Shri by the President of India in 1958. He donated all his medals to the nation.