Nov 4, 2011-NEW DELHI: Former sports minister Manohar Singh Gill has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, making a recommendation for conferring the Padma Award on 100-year-old Sardar Fauja Singh who stunned the world by completing the Tokyo marathon a fortnight ago.
In fact, Fauja Singh went ahead and completed the Frankfurt marathon last week in little more than eight hours. It's a feat which is unimaginable for a man his age. People much younger would struggle to even walk 42 kilometres.
When asked, Gill told TOI: "Yes, I have written to the Prime Minister. I first wrote to him making the request in June before Fauja ran the Tokyo marathon. Fauja is a symbol of fitness and excellence in sports. He is an icon in the world of sports. A well-known multi-national event replaced football icon David Beckham with Fauja as its ambassador and role model. He is a great symbol of India and we should honour him. By doing that we will be honouring ourselves."