Abdul Khaliq (athlete) explained

Abdul Khaliq
Nickname:	The Flying Bird of Asia
Birth Date:	1933 3, df=yes
Birth Place:	Jand Awan, Punjab, British India
Death Place:	Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan
Country:	Pakistan
Sport:	Track and field
Event:	100m, 200m, 4*100m, 100y, 110y, 200y, 220y,
Module3:	Embed: yes Honorific Prefix: Subedar Abdul Khaliq Serviceyears: 1948–1978 Battles: Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Awards: Pride of Performance

Subedar Abdul Khaliq (Punjabi, Urdu: {{Nastaliq|عبد الخالق; 23 March 1933 – 10 March 1988),^[1] also known as Parinda-e-Asia (Urdu for The Flying Bird of Asia), was a Pakistani sprinter from 8 Medium Regiment Artillery who won 36 international gold medals, 15 international silver medals, and 12 International bronze medals while representing Pakistan.^[2] He competed in the 100m, 200m, and 4 x 100 meters relay. He participated in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and the 1960 Rome Olympics. He also participated in the 1954 Asian Games and the 1958 Asian Games. During the 1956 Indo-Pak Meet held in Delhi, Abdul Khaliq was first referred to as "The Flying Bird of Asia" by the Prime Minister of India of the time was Jawaharlal Nehru, who was reportedly captivated by his performance during the event.^[3]

International career

1954

1954 Asian Games

In the 1954 Asian Games Abdul Khaliq set a new Asian Games record of 100 meters in 10.6 seconds by beating the previous record of 10.8 seconds, held by Lavy Pinto of India in 1951. Abdul Khaliq was dubbed as Fastest Man of Asia.^{[4] [5]} Abdul Khaliq won Gold and Silver Medal from 100-meter and relay race respectively in the 1954 Asian Games.

Commonwealth and British Empire Games

Abdul Khaliq was a 100-yard semi-finalist and a 4x110-yards finalist in the 1954 Commonwealth and British Games.

1955

• Represented the World Military Games at Athens (Greece).

1956

Indo-Pak Meet at Delhi

Abdul Khaliq created new Asian records in both the 100- and 200-meter events. The Indian Prime Minister at the time, Jawaharlal Nehru, also chief guest, dubbed him "The Flying Bird of Asia" for his record-setting performance.^[6] Abdul Khaliq won the 100 meter dash by defeating Indian athlete V.K. Rai, winning the 100m Gold medal with a time of 10.4-second. Abdul Khaliq also won the 200 meter race and defeated Lavy Pinto of India and created a new record by clocking in 21.4 seconds.

World Military Games at Berlin

Abdul Khaliq Finished third in the final of the 100-meter, with 10.4 seconds, equal to his Delhi timing. He won the 100, 200, and 4x100 meter bronze medals.

Pakistan Athletics Training Program in England

Abdul Khaliq defeated Britain Number 1 and Number 2, Shaton and Spooner, in both sprints.^[7] He won the 100-yard in 10.1 sec at an international meet in high land games on a turf track which was rendered wet due to incessant rains in the morning. Here, he defeated athletes from 15 countries in Europe.

Victorian Relay Championship

Abdul Khaliq ran a 100-meter race in 10.4 seconds, equaling the Australian National record at Olympic Park. Khaliq's was only one-tenth of a second outside of Bobby Morrow's Gold Medal in the Olympic Games' 100 meter final. He won the 100 meter gold medal and the 4x100 yd gold medal.

Melbourne Olympics

In 1956, Abdul Khaliq was a semi-finalist in both 100 meter and 200 meter races. Khaliq's time in 200 meter race, 21.1 seconds achieved 4th position in the semi-finals. This performance of Khaliq's put him top seven athletes of the Olympics. On 24 November 1956, the day of the semi-finals and the final of the 100m in the Olympics, Abdul Khaliq ran two hard races on the same day as "Anchor Man" for the winning Pakistan team in the 4x110-yard in the Victorian Relay Championship before tackling the 100m dash of the semi-final. With Khaliq running the last leg, the Pakistan team extended a lead of 10 yards in the final clocking 41.6 seconds in the Victorian championship, which was one-tenth of a second outside of the national record held by the Australian Olympics team.^{[8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]}

Final Standing in Melbourne Olympics

Rank	Athlete	Age	Team	NOC	Medal
1	Bobby Joe Morrow	21	United States	USA	Gold
2	Thane Baker	25	United States	USA	Silver
3	Hec Hogan	25	Australia	AUS	Bronze
4	Ira Murchison	23	United States	USA
5	Manfred Germar	21	Germany	GER
6	Mike Agostini	21	Trinidad and Tobago	TTO
4 h1 r3/4	Abdul Khaliq	23	Pakistan	PAK
4 h2 r3/4	Morrie Rae	21	New Zealand	NZL
5 h1 r3/4	Stan Levenson	18	Canada	CAN
5 h2 r3/4	Marian Foik	23	Poland	POL

1957

In 1957, Abdul Khaliq won 11 International Gold Medals and 1 International Silver Medal by participating in multiple events held by England, Iran, Greece, and Scotland.

1958

Khaliq participated in the 3rd Asian Games held in Tokyo. He defended his title in the 100 meter race,^[14] by defeating Kyohei Ushio of Japan. Abdul Khaliq won 3 medals including Gold in the 100 meter race, Silver in the 200 meter race, and Bronze Medal from the relay race in the 3rd Asian Games. With Khaliq's contributions, Pakistan secured 2nd position in Athletics and 6th in the overall rankings.

Abdul Khaliq also 3 more medals in 1958 by taking part in different events held in Japan, China, and Scotland. He also took part in British Empire and Commonwealth Games held at Cardiff and was a semi-finalist in 100-yards clocking at 9.8 seconds.

1959

In 1959, Abdul Khaliq visited many countries, including England, Sweden, Irish, Wales, Highland, Ireland. He also won 9 International Gold Medals, 7 International Silver Medal, and 4 International Bronze Medal through several events.

1960

1960 Olympic Games
Abdul Khaliq took part in the 1960 Olympic Games held in Rome but he could not qualify for the next rounds in both 100 meter and relay race event.^[15]

International Meet at Lahore
This event in which Khaliq won Gold Medal in 100 meter race with a time of 10.4 seconds and Bronze Medal in 200 meter race and again Gold Medal in relay race timing 41.5 seconds was portrayed in the Indian movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.^[16]

Coaching career

Athletic coaches clinic attended

• 1967 at Murree for 6 weeks under German Coach
• 1974 at Hassan Abdul under USA Coaches
• 1976 at Lahore under Russian Coaches
• 1981 at Rawalpindi under I.O.C Coaches

Coaching

• Army Coach 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970 & 1971
• Punjab 1974 & 1975
• National Coach 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 & 1978
• Joined National Sports Trust Asian Athletics Coach 23 December 1975
• Punjab Sports Board Teachers Clinics
• National Coaches Clinic 1976
• Local PTI Clinic Lahore 1979

Achievements

International Medals (numbers as per events)

100 y	09	0	02
120 y	02	0	0
100 m	13	08	04
220 y	02	01	01
200 m	07	04	04
4*110 y	01	0	0
4*100 m	02	02	01
Total	36	15	12

Presidential Award

Khaliq was given the Presidential Award Pride of Performance in 1958 by President Ayoob Khan for his achievements.

Medals (international)

Sr. No.	Year	Venue	Country	Competitions	Event	Medal	Time
Represented
1	1954	Manila	Philippines	2nd Asian Games	100m	Gold	10.6sec (New Asian Record)
2	1954	Manila	Philippines	2nd Asian Games	4*100m	Silver	41.5 sec
3	1954	Madawala	England	Triangular Meet	100m	Gold
4	1956	Delhi	India	Pakistan vs India	100m	Gold	10.4sec (New Asian Record)(New Pakistan Record)
5	1956	Delhi	India	Pakistan vs India	200m	Gold	21.4sec (New Asian record)(New Pakistan Record)
6	1956	Delhi	India	Pakistan vs India	4*100m	Silver
7	1956	Berlin	Germany	International Military Track and Field Championship	100m	Bronze	10.4sec
8	1956	Berlin	Germany	International Military Track and Field Championship	200m	Bronze	21.4/10sec
9	1956	England	England	Pakistan Athlatics Training Programme	100y	Gold	10.1sec
10	1956	London	England	England National Competitions	100m	Silver
11	1956	Edenburgh	Highland	Highland Games	100y	Gold
12	1956	Kelang	Australia	International Meet Australia	200m	Silver
13	1956	Victoria	Australia	Victorian Relay Championship	100m	Gold	10.4 sec
14	1956	Victoria	Australia	Victorian Relay Championship	4* 100m	Gold	41.6 sec
15	1956	Bandigo	Australia	International Meet Australia	100m	Bronze
16	1956	England	England	Victorian Open Competitions	100m	Gold
17	1957	White City	England	London vs New York	100y	Gold
18	1957	White City	England	London vs New York	100m	Gold	10.6sec
19	1957	Glasgow	England	Rangers Meet	120y	Gold	11.6sec
20	1957	Glasgow	England	Rangers Meet	220y	Gold	21.8sec
21	1957	Manchester	England	International Competitions	100y	Gold	9.6sec
22	1957	Manchester	England	Open Meet	100y	Gold
23	1957	Dublin	England	Irish International Meet	100y	Gold
24	1957	Tehran	Iran	Pak Iran Competitions	100m	Gold	10.8sec
25	1957	Tehran	Iran	Pak Iran Competitions	200m	Gold	22sec
26	1957	Tehran	Iran	Pak Iran Competitions	4*100m	Gold	40.8sec
27	1957	Aten	Greece	World Military Meet Athens	100m	Silver
28	1957	Edinburgh	Scotland	Highland Games	100y	Gold	9.9sec
29	1958	Tokyo	Japan	Japan International	100m	Silver
30	1958	Hong Kong	China	International Meet	100m	Gold
31	1958	Tokyo	Japan	3rd Asian Games	100m	Gold	10.9sec
32	1958	Tokyo	Japan	3rd Asian Games	200m	Silver	21.7sec
33	1958	Tokyo	Japan	3rd Asian Games	4*100m	Bronze	41.5
34	1958	Edinburgh	Scotland	Dual Empire Games	100y	Bronze	9.9sec
35	1959	Bradford	England	International Meet England	100y	Gold	10.1sec
36	1959	Bradford	England	International Meet England	220y	Silver
37	1959	Bright Hill	England	International Meet England	100y	Gold
38	1959	Delin	Irish	Irish International Meet	100m	Gold
39	1959	Delin	Irish	Irish International Meet	200m	Gold
40	1959	Cardif	Wales	Wales International	100m	Gold
41	1959	Cardif	Wales	Wales International	200m	Gold
42	1959	Glasgow	England	International Meet	120y	Gold	11.6sec
43	1959	Malmo	Sweden	International Meet	100m	Silver
44	1959	Malmo	Sweden	International Meet	200m	Silver
45	1959	Gavel	Sweden	International Meet	200m	Silver	21.9sec
46	1959	Stockholm	Sweden	International Meet	100m	Silver	10.7sec
47	1959	Stockholm	Sweden	International Meet	200m	Bronze	21.6sec
48	1959	Boras	Sweden	International Meet	200m	Gold
49	1959	Gothenburgh	Sweden	International Meet	100m	Silver	21.8sec
50	1959	Edinburgh	Highland	Highland Games	100m	Silver
51	1959	Dublin	Ireland	International Track and Field Meet	220y	Gold	22.2sec
52	1959	Cardif	Wales	International Dual Meet	100y	Bronze	10sec
53	1959	Cardif	Wales	International Dual Meet	220y	Bronze
54	1959	Maimoe	Sweden	International Meet	100m	Bronze
55	1960	Lahore	Pakistan	First youth Festival and Trianguler International Meet	100m	Gold	10.4sec
56	1960	Lahore	Pakistan	First youth Festival and Trianguler International Meet	200m	Bronze
57	1960	Lahore	Pakistan	First youth Festival and Trianguler International Meet	4*100m	Gold	41.5sec
58	1960	Medawala	England	International Games	200m	Gold
59	1960	Cario	Egypt	Egypt International Games	100m	Gold
60	1960	Cario	Egypt	Egypt International Games	200m	Gold
61	1962	Holand	Holand	World Military Games	100m	Bronze
62	1962	Ipoh	Malaysia	International Meet	100m	Silver
63	1962	Ipoh	Malaysia	International Meet	200m	Bronze	22.1sec

Running statistics

Event	Year	Venue	Time
100y	1957	Manchester	9.6
100y	1957	Edinburgh(Manchester)	9.9
100y	1958	Edinburgh(Scotland)	9.9
100m	1959	Rawalpindi	10.2
100m	1956	Abbottabad	10.2
100m	1957	Sialkot	10.3
100m	1954	Delhi	10.4
100m	1956	Berlin(Germini)	10.4
100m	1960	Lahore (Pakistan)	10.4
100m	1956	Manila	10.6
100m	1957	White city (England)	10.6
100m	1958	Tokyo (Japan)	10.6
100m	1957	Tehran(Iran)	10.8
120y	1957	Glasgow (England)	11.6
120y	1959	Glasgow (England)	11.6
200m	1956	Abbottabad	20.8
200m	1956	Melbourne	21.1
200m	1954	Delhi (India)	21.4
200m	1959	Stockholm(Sweden)	21.6
200m	1956	Berlin(Germini)	21.4
220y	1958	London	21.5
220y	1958	Glasgow (England)	21.8

External links

• Official Facebook page

Notes and References

1. Web site: Did the 'fastest man of Asia' run in vain. Dawn.com. 10 November 2010.
2. Web site: History of athletics in Pakistan. afp.com.pk . 3 June 2014.
3. Somak Adhikari. Remembering Abdul Khaliq, The Flying Bird Of Asia And Milkha Singh's Arch-Rival On The Track. 29 October 2019. India Times.
4. Web site: Athletics in Pakistan . Sports.gov.pk. 10 November 2010.
5. Web site: Fastest Man of Asia after Establishment of Pakistan . Jang Multimedia . 10 February 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131116010251/http://e.jang.com.pk/08-28-2013/lahore/page7.asp . 16 November 2013 .
6. Web site: Memories of Flying Bird of Asia . The Hindu. 10 February 2014.
7. Book: Abdul Khaliq . 5 August 2014. Bhatti. Mukhtar. 1969.
8. Web site: Record Dash by Pakistan Top Sprinter Abdul Khaliq . The Age . 10 February 2014.
9. Web site: Final Standing in Melbourne Olympics 1956. Sports Reference LLC. https://web.archive.org/web/20200417094425/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1956/ATH/mens-100-metres.html. dead. 17 April 2020. 1 January 2014.
10. Web site: Men 100m in Melbourne Olympics 1956 . todor66 . 28 February 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131030093116/http://todor66.com/olim/1956/Athletics/Men_100m.html . 30 October 2013 .
11. Web site: Men 4* 100m_Relay in Melbourne Olympics 1956 . todor66 . 28 February 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131030101238/http://todor66.com/olim/1956/Athletics/Men_4x100m_Relay.html . 30 October 2013 .
12. Web site: Abdul Khaliq Makes Pakistan Proud at Melbourne . 28 February 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150112060656/http://jang.com.pk/thenews/aug2008-weekly/nos-03-08-2008/spo.htm . 12 January 2015.
13. Web site: Official Report (Pages No. 271,287–290) . 9 April 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140413130544/http://www.olympic-museum.de/o-reports/report1956.htm . 13 April 2014 .
14. Web site: Abdul Khaliq Fastest man of Asia. TheNews.com.pk. 6 February 2010.
15. Web site: Men 100m in Rome Olympics 1960 . todor66 . 28 February 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160207114039/http://www.todor66.com/olim/1960/Athletics/Men_100m.html . 7 February 2016.
16. Web site: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. 2021-06-21. Box Office India.