Remembering triple Olympic gold medalist late Balbir Singh Senior

‘When hockey legend Balbir Singh Sr donated three of his Olympic medals for China War fund’

Today (May 25, 2021), is the first death anniversary of legend triple-Olympic gold medalist Balbir Singh Senior. He died last year in Chandigarh and was 96. A former India captain, Singh was part of teams that won three Olympic gold medals (1948, 1952, 1956) and a Asian Games silver (1958). Keshav Datt is now the only surviving member of the team of ’48.

Balbir Singh Senior was a true nationalist. So great was his love for India that he did not think twice when the country went to war with China and donated three of his Olympic gold medals to the China War fund in October 1962.

“The country’s troubled time was bigger than my Olympic medals. That’s why I gave it to the national defence fund,” Singh had said to me during one of his interviews.

It was from October 1962, when Balbir Singh Sr visited then Punjab Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon and offered three of his Olympic gold medals for the War Fund.

“Kairon refused to accept the medals, saying it was the country’s pride. But Balbir Singh said the medals were the best he could offer, and on his insistence, the CM accepted them,” recalled Col BN Bali (retired), who then posted at Punjab CM office. “However, Kairon did not send the medals to the PM’s relief fund and after a couple of months, the CM returned the medals to Balbir Singh and told him that these are the country’s pride and can’t be exchanged for money.”

During the 2012 London Olympics, the hosts invited the living legends from the 1948 London Games and had an exhibition of their Olympics artifacts. During that time the three Olympic gold medals were insured for UK pound 300,000 (Rs 2.76 cr).

“For my father these Olympic medals are priceless, he always tells us that there is no pride bigger than the country’s honour. So, we never thought about its value in terms of money,” his daughter Sushbir Bhomia had said.