‘Be humble in victory’, Jeev recounts life lessons from father Milkha Singh

“Hard work, dedication and discipline. These three words were the mantra of my father throughout his life. He always told us that ‘Milkha Singh has lived by these values and has made them a way of life, and every player should abide by them. Only then one can achieve success for the country and himself’. My father used to say that these attributes had shaped him as a sportsperson and as a human too. We celebrate his life every day and it’s an honour for the whole Milkha family to be here to talk about him and receive this award,” said Jeev while addressing the function.

Jeev lost both his parents Milkha Singh and Nirmal Milkha Singh in a span of a week due to Covid-19 in 2021. The international star did not play golf for the next six months. It was only in January 2022 that Jeev returned to golf and played in the Senior Champions Tour.

A 13-time international winner, Jeev had seen his father (Milkha Singh) play golf at the Chandigarh Golf Club and that had inspired him to take to the sport.

“Whether it was on or off the course, my father always told me to be a gentleman. Right from my childhood days, I would see my father meeting the President of India or a child with the same enthusiasm and it made us wonder as kids. He always told us to be humble while climbing the stairs of success. Wherever I go, I am approached by many remembering my father and that’s the biggest asset for us,” said an emotional Jeev.

Former Indian cricketer and actor Yograj Singh, who portrayed the role of Milkha Singh’s coach Ranbir Singh in his biopic “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”, also remembered his time with the legendary athlete. “When I was dropped from the Indian cricket team, I had met Milkha Sir at Sukhna Lake here, and his words were a great source of comfort and had inspired me. Later when I was chosen to play the role of his coach in the movie, he told me that I reminded him of his coach. His coach was also as tough as I was with Yuvraj Singh and many other students of mine. When the movie was released, Milkha Sir complimented me on my performance in the biopic,” said Yograj.

The SJFI gold medal was instituted in 2018 with former tennis star Vijay Amritraj as its first recipient. Badminton icon Prakash Padukone and cricket’s little master Sunil Gavaskar have been honoured with the award in recent years.

Milkha Singh is the only athlete to win gold in 400 metres at the Asian Games as well as the Commonwealth Games. He had finished fourth in 1960 Rome Olympics in 400m race.