Milkha Singh in New Delhi, on Thursday. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi: Sprint legend Milkha Singh launched a scathing attack on Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Thursday saying its current system was incapable of producing a world-class athlete.

The 77-year-old athlete, known as “The Flying Sikh” said he was sad to see India failing to produce another athlete like PT Usha, Sriram Singh or Anju Bobby George or himself over the years.

Sharing the same dais with SAI director general Jiji Thompson during the launch of national level school championships to unearth talent, Milkha said: “In the present set up, sports can never prosper.

“You have been hunting talents and coaching those boys and girls. After some days, they go home…nobody is there to follow up and take these talented children to the next level.

“I would urge the SAI to appoint result-oriented coaches. These coaches should be appointed under contract. They should be asked to show results,” Milkha said.

Ridiculing the SAI, the country’s finest ever sprinter, who finished fourth in 400 metres in 1960 Rome Olympics, said the government body had only succeeded in producing coaches but not athletes.

Setting up academies across the country, according to Milkha, was the only solution to get better results. “My son (Jeev Milkha Singh) is a golfer. He goes to several countries. I had been to China with him. I saw how they have set up academies all over the country.

“They have come up through hard work. You can’t achieve anything by talking only,” said the sprinter, on whose life the film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag has recently been released.

Athletics, Milkha said, is the mother of all sport.

“Look at Usain Bolt, the one man who has put Jamaica on the world map. The Milkha Singh you are seeing now had no idea what athletics is all about during his childhood.

“He had no idea what 200 metres or 400 metres runs were. But when he turned an athlete, running for the nation became a great motivation.”

Recalling his days as an active athlete, Milkha described how determined was he to break the Olympic record.

“My coach told me 45.9 was the Olympic record. I made it a point to break it.

“I worked so hard that a number of times I was hospitalised…I was almost on deathbed. People thought I would die. But I knew my hard work would pay some day. It did,” he said.

The SAI director general said India needed dedicated coaches.

“We in SAI have sanctions for 1500 coaches. At least 300 posts are lying vacant. We might recruit 200 coaches in the next few days.

“Sadly, once appointed, some coaches lose interest and get busy with transfers and postings than their actual job. We need passionate coaches, not just government servants.”