Den Indian who had never run on an artificial track ever, but with his name in the list of Indian athletes who have reached an Olympic final, is Sriram Singh. He proved that Indians could develop the fitness, stamina and willpower needed for winning in any international sport.
Sriram Singh came into limelight in Indian athletics in the 1970s. He joined Indian athletics under the guidance of Mr. Ilyas Babar. Sriram Singh came to athletics via soccer where he was an outstanding right- winger. In his first appearance in the Delhi state competition Sriram won all the sprint events.
In the 1970 Asian Games he won the silver losing out narrowly to Jinmy Champion of Myanmar. But that was the only defeat at the Asian level in 800m. His dominance during the 1974 and 1978 Asian Games was acknowledged by everybody.
In the 1976 Montreal Olympics his timing was 1:47, while the world’s best was 1:44. His national record of 1:45:94, 1:46:40 and finally 1:5:77 is still unsurpassed.