1928년 네덜란드 암스테르담 올림픽에서 인도의 필드 학키 팀 소속으로서 금메달을 받았던 페로즈 칸은 99세이다. 그는 생존한 올림픽 금메달리스트 가운데는 두번째의 고령자이다. 지금은 파키스탄인으로 살고 있는 그는 챔피언이 되는 비결은 최근 AFP와의 회견에서 '자기 규율과 정면승부하는 자세이다'고 말했다. 그는 '이 두 가지가 챔피언의 황금 법칙'이라면서 '많이 보면 많이 배운다'고 충고했다.



World's second oldest Olympic champion says discipline key for success


KARACHI (AFP) - The world's second oldest living Olympic champion, Feroz Khan, says discipline and accepting the challenge earned him glory in the Amsterdam Olympics 76 years ago, warning that no athlete can win gold without these golden rules.


In a poignant message to today's Olympians just weeks before the start of the games in Athens and his 100th birthday in September, Khan evoked a golden era of sport to urge his successors to carry on traditions he helped build.


'To be an Olympic gold medal winner is a great honour,' Khan told AFP, proudly brandishing the medal he won as member of the undivided India's first national field hockey team.


'I felt honoured when the International Olympic Committee (news - web sites) (IOC (news - web sites)) sent me greetings on my 99th birthday last year,' said Khan, the father of Pakistan's former air force chief -- retired Air Marshal Farooq Feroz.


The five-foot former sportsman joined his colleagues on a ship on March 10, 1928 with the team which also included India's legend Dhyan Chand and returned with the first gold medal in the field hockey for the country.


'Discipline and accepting the challenge were the key words for me and I think without these golden rules no athlete can win a medal in Olympics,' Khan said.


According to the International Olympic Committee, US national James S. Rockefeller, born on June 8, 1902, who won a rowing gold in the 1924 Paris Olympics, is the only living Olympic champion older than Khan.


'I have lived this long because of discipline in my life,' Khan said.


Born in the Indian city of Jullundhar, Khan said he began playing hockey in his childhood after he picked up a tree branch.


'I had speed and guile because I used to play with the branch of a tree but a bitter challenge by school teacher Swami Jagannath spurred me to make a name in hockey,' said Khan whose wrinkled hands belie a sharp memory.


'You haven't got the making of a good player, so don't waste your time,' was the challenge for a 13-year-old Khan from his teacher.


Khan says his liking for cinema taught him a lesson.


'I saw a cliche running on the screen -- 'to see much is to learn much' -- and then for hours I would observe style of other players and mastered the craft.'


At national level, Khan faced a tie with his illustrious compatriot Dhyan Chand and selectors included him in the Olympic squad only after Khan agreed to play as inside right to leave the pivotal position for Chand.


'Chand was an outstanding player but media played a major role in making him the demigod and a wizard but other players in the team were also good,' Khan added.


He said Indian officials had to borrow money to meet expenses of travelling to Holland but the Olympic squad won riches in sporting fixtures en route to the games, where his team won the title beating hosts Holland 3-0.


'Since field hockey was held before the rest of the Olympic events we couldn't see much of other sports, but 1928 Olympics were dry as compared to the fanfare we have now in the Olympics,' Khan recalled.





Khan was never to repeat his success as he never played for India again after he was not picked for the 1932 Olympics.

He left India after Pakistan was created after the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 and served here as selector of for nine years.

Khan lamented that field hockey had lost its charm due to new innovations in the game, but he gave his blessing to the forthcoming games.

'Long live the Olympic movement, may the best athlete win at Athens and we see the best of competitions,' he said.

'Some people wanted me to go to Athens for this year's Olympics but with weak knees I don't want to be a burden on anyone.'