One of the country's earliest sports heroes, Milkha died of COVID-19-related complications in a private hospital in Chandigarh late on Friday night, leaving the whole nation in shock and disbelief. He was the first sportsman and sprinter who had won many medals including golden in national and international as well as Commonwealth tournaments in the sprint. His story of sheer determination and hard work inspired millions and will continue to do so. When he had to flee Pakistan after his parents were killed in riots during the partition, his father’s last words were Bhag Milkha Bhag. Since then he kept running and make India proud feeling with his running which had brought many medals and immense success to the country. Milkha Singh was our first sports idol who inspired many sportsmen to come forward and earn tremendous success. Milkha’s journey from a partition refugee to an international sportsman and medal-winner hero was full of hardships and hurdles. But, he did not lose hope and eventually got what he was destined for. In his times, sportsmen were not being provided too many facilities, let alone separate trainers for a sprinter. Whatever Milkha achieved was the result of his sheer hard work, determination and perseverance.  Running second time in 1960 without any facilities without all those things he made our country proud. In his days, sometimes he had even participated without shoes and still got great success. On the insistence of Pundit Nehru, he went to Pakistan and he was given the name Flying Sikh by the then Pakistani president General Ayub Khan. It must be a proud moment for Milkha as the country in which his parents were brutally killed had felicitated him with respect. Today, athletes are provided immense facilities and they should be provided undoubtedly. But it was Milkha who showed our athletes that with dedication and willpower you can come to the Olympics and win medals even if facilities are not there.  In his heydays, Cricket was not so popular but still, it was in the highest position in the context of popularity. Still, Milkha without turning to Cricket chose sprint as his sport and reached new heights with every competition. When he went abroad to take part in the Commonwealth games, nobody was knowing Indian players. But, when he won two gold medals in the 200 and 400 Meters sprint, everybody wanted to know him and India. Due to Milkha, India was known to foreign people in this case. Today, Sachin Tendulkar or cricketers alike are our demigods. Fans worship them, but in earlier days the sports gods were different. Milkha Singh and Major Dhyanchand, a Hockey legendary player were heroes of people. Sprint is a sport in which no costly kits or tools are necessary. No extraordinary costly Cricket kit or Tennis racket is necessary for this sport. Only determination, hard work and temperament required for this sport. Milkha Singh was a warehouse of these qualities. In a different manner, Sprint is connected with commoners as it does not require costly tools. So, common people consider it as more belonging to themselves. Though Cricket is the highest popular game in the country, there is an intangible line between cricketers and aam Janata. But, in other sports especially Sprint or other athletics, people and players come from the same backgrounds. But, other sports have no popularity in the country as these sportspersons never contracted for commercial advertisements. Even after tremendous success, even another legendary sprint queen did not get any advertisements and in the case of Cricket, the players earn much more income than cricket match fees. But, Milkha Singh was a center of inspiration to thousands of athletes and they tried hard to get success at the international level. Milkha was our first greatest sports hero India has ever produced.