Twenty eight years have passed since Milkha hung his spikes yet no athlete has ever gone nearer Milkha’s magical timing. He was a product of that time when no facilities existed, no coach available, no reward offered and no job secured, yet armed only with an iron will and the will to draw his own course, Milkha reversed the movement of the wheels of destiny.

To the late Brigadier Dalip Singh goes the credit of being the first Sikh to represent India in the Olympics. The 1924 Olympic Games were held in Paris in which India sent a contingent of seven athletes. In this seven-man squad, two Sikhs, Dalip and Palam made their debut.

Ajitpal Singh was at one time the world’s best hockey player. If at that time a world hockey team had been formed, Ajitpal Singh would have been made its captain. The place which Brazil’s Pele occupies in Football, Ajitpal Singh, the proud son of Sansarpur, occupies in hockey. The fact that Pele played for money while Ajitpal Singh played for the sheer love of the game is immaterial.

Today in almost 7000 villages in Punjab in one decade or the other rural sports competitions are being held. Rural folk organise them. It is they who extend all hospitality to the competitors also. In fact these village sports have opened the floodgates of village development.