World's oldest Olympian dies in Pakistan
The world's oldest Olympic medal winner, Pakistani field hockey player Feroze Khan, has died, family members said. He was 100 years old."Khan died here peacefully and without any illness," his son Farooq Feroze Khan said in the southern port city of Karachi.
Khan, a skillful inside right and centre forward, won a gold with pre-independence India at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, Holland.
Born in Jalandhar, India, Khan started playing hockey using a tree branch.
He left the game after having a "fall out" with Indian selectors and migrated to Pakistan in early 1950s, where he served as a coach and national selector.
Former Pakistan hockey captain Islahuddin Siddiqui termed Khan's demise a "great loss", not only for Pakistan but for the world sports community.
Khan celebrated his 100th birthday on September 9 last year and was recognised as the oldest known living Olympic medal winner by the International Olympic Council (IOC).
He took the title after the United States' James Rockefeller died in early 2004.
Rockefeller had won a gold medal in rowing in the Paris Olympics in 1924.
"I am proud to be 100 and am going great. This is ample proof of the fact that discipline and individuals with sporting habits can live longer," Feroze said last year.
Family sources they would inform the IOC of Khan's death after his burial.
-AFP
World's oldest hockey Olympian Feroze dies
The former inside-right, who was a member of the Indian hockey team which won the 1928 Olympic Games gold medal in Amsterdam, had celebrated his 100th birthday on Sept 9, 2004."I am proud to be 100 and am going great. This is ample proof of the fact that discipline and individuals with sporting habits can live longer," Feroze had said on his last birthday.
Feroze became the oldest living Olympic champion after the United States' James Rocke feller died last year. Rocke feller had won a gold medal in rowing in the 1924 Paris Olympics and according to International Olympic Committee records was the oldest living Olympian, with Feroze occupying the second spot.
Born in Jalandhar, India, Feroze started playing hockey using a tree branch. He later became a member of the 1928 Olympic squad. He has left behind two sons and two daughters to mourn his death. His funeral prayers will be held after Zuhar prayers on Thursday.
Former hockey stalwarts expressed sorrow over Feroze's death, saying it was a great loss for Pakistan. "Although he played only for India, Mr Feroze was instrumental in Pakistan hockey team's victories in Olympics, Asian Games and other mega events.
He was a fine selector and it was his contribution as a selector that we won Olympic and Asian Games golds," said former captain Brig Abdul Hameed under whom Pakistan won 1960 Olympic gold in Rome.
Hameed, also a former Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary, showered praises on the former Olympian, saying that as a player and selector he was a source of inspiration. "While he was a key Indian team player and a contemporary of legendary Dhayan Chand, he was equally impressive as a selector."
"It's sad that we have lost such a personality," said Hameed who also played as an inside-right and represented Pakistan from 1948 to 1960. Anwar Ahmad Khan, another Pakistan captain, felt Pakistan had lost a brilliant hockey personality who had contributed a lot to sport in the country after independence in 1947.
"I am deeply saddened by his death. Mr Feroze of Bombay Customs and Shaukat Ali of Calcutta Customs were perhaps the only Muslims in the 1928 Indian hockey squad that cinched the gold. He was a fine selector and our mentor."
According to Anwar, who played for Pakistan from 1956 to 1966, Feroze was born in the Pathanoon ki Bastian in Jalandhar and played for Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh University and Bombay Customs.
He added Feroze was in the group of Bombay and Calcutta Customs officers who formed the Pakistan Customs side in 1955 that produced several stars including Anwar. Former skippers Islahuddin Siddiqui and Hanif Khan, who also belong to Pakistan Customs, expressed grief, saying the country had lost a great sportsman.
Pakistan's Feroze Khan, the world's oldest Olympic medal winner, passed away peacefully here on Wednesday evening 20 April 2005 in Karachi.
Olymian Feroze Khan turns 100
LAHORE: The world’s oldest-known Olympic medal winner, Pakistan’s Feroze Khan, celebrated his 100th birthday on Thursday and said sportsmen with discipline could live longer. "I am proud to be 100 and am going great. This is ample proof of the fact that discipline and individuals with sporting habits can live longer," Khan told AFP.Khan, who won a field hockey gold medal for India in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, became the oldest living Olympic champion after the United States’ James Rockefeller died last month. Pakistan was carved out of India in August 1947 after independence from Britain.
Rockefeller won a gold medal in rowing in the 1924 Paris Olympics and according to International Olympic Committee records was the oldest living Olympian, with Khan in second spot. Feroze Khan said he felt honoured when Pakistan celebrated his centenary. Pakistan Television aired a 40-minute documentary on Wednesday night and leading newspapers carried interviews.
Khan, who was born in Jullundur in India, used a tree branch as his first hockey stick. India’s hockey team was able to compete in the 1928 Olympics only after getting a loan from a private company, he recalled. "En route to the hockey finals, we beat Austria 6-0, Belgium 9-0, Denmark 5-0 and Switzerland 6-0 in the semi-finals to set up the title clash against Holland which we won 3-0," Khan said.
The Olympian said he is saddened by the slump in Asian field hockey. "I saw some of the matches in the Athens Olympics and am sad at the steep decline." No Asian team qualified for the semi-finals. Pakistan, the best of the Asian teams, finished only fifth.
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