Abdul Khaliq (athlete)
Abdul Khaliq was a Pakistani sprinter from 8 Medium Regiment Artillery who won 36 international gold medals, 15 international silver medals, and 12 International bronze medals for Pakistan. He competed in the 100m, 200m and 4 x 100 metres relay. He participated in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and the 1960 Rome Olympics. He also participated in the 1954 Asian Games and the 1958 Asian Games. He was born in the village of Jand Awan in Chakwal, Punjab, now in Pakistan, and died on 10 March 1988 in Rawalpindi.
International career
1954
1954 Asian Games
During the 1954 Asian Gamesm Khaliq set a new record of 10.6 seconds in the 100-meter race by beating the previous record of 10.8 seconds, held by Lavy Pinto of India in 1951. Because of this, Abdul Khaliq was dubbed as Fastest Man of Asia. The Indian Prime Minister at the time, Jawaharlal Nehru, also chief guest, dubbed him "The Flying Bird of Asia".He won the 100m gold medal and the 4 × 100 m relay silver medal.
100m Gold Medal
4 * 100m Relay Silver Medal
He also played in the World Military Games, held in Canada.
Commonwealth and British Empire Games
He was a 100-yard semi-finalist and a 4x110-yards finalist1955
- Represented the World Military Games at Athens
1956
Indo-Pak Meet at Delhi
Abdul Khaliq created new Asian records in both the 100- and 200-meter events.Abdul Khaliq won the 100 m dash by defeating Indian athlete V.K. Rai, winning the 100 m Gold medal with a 10.4-second time.
Abdul Khaliq triumphed in the 200 m race and defeated Lavy Pinto of India. Muhammad Sharif Butt broke the record of 200 m in 22.0 seconds held by Lavy Pinto in 1954 Asian Games with 21.9 seconds. Later on, this record was broken by Abdul Khaliq.
He also won the 200 m Gold Medal, clocking in at 21.4 sec.
World Military Games at Berlin
Abdul Khaliq Finished third in the final of the 100-meter, with 10.4 seconds, equal to his Delhi timing.He won the 100-, 200-, and 4x100- meter bronze medals.
Pakistan Athletics Training Program in England
Abdul Khaliq defeated Britain Number 1 and Number 2, Shanton and Spooner, in both sprints. He won the 100-yard in 10.1 sec at an international meet in high land games on a turf track which was rendered wet due to incessant rains in the morning. Here, he defeated athletes from 15 countries in Europe. Some of the leading coaches described it as a very good performance and said it was equal to 9.5 sec on a cinder track.Victorian Relay Championship
Abdul Khaliq ran a 100-meter race in 10.4 seconds, equalling the Australian National record at Olympic Park. Khaliq's was only one-tenth of a second outside of Bobby Morrow's Gold Medal in the Olympic Games' 100 m final.Melbourne Olympics
In 1956, Abdul Khaliq was at his best. He reached to the level of the semi-finals of both the 100 m and 200 m races. On 24 November 1956, the day of the semi-finals and the final of the 100 m in the Olympics, Abdul Khaliq ran two hard races on the same day as "Anchor Man" for the winning Pakistan team in the 4x110-yard in the Victorian Relay Championship before tackling the 100 m dash of the semi-final. With Khaliq running the last leg, the Pakistan team romped home 10 yards clear in the final clocking 41.6 seconds, one-tenth of a second outside of the national record held by the Australian Olympics team. He won the 100 m gold medal and the 4x100 yd gold medal.He finished the race in 21.1 sec in both, 100 m and 200 m. 21.1 seconds was best time of all rounds except the final. His performance placed him in top most seven athletes at the time.
100 Metres
First Round, Heat 3 '
| Rank | Name | Country | Time |
| 1 | Morrow | USA | 10.7 |
| 2 | A. Khaliq | Pakistan | 10.8 |
| 3 | M. Steinbach | Germany | 10.8 |
| 4 | R. Romero | Venezuela | 10.9 |
| 5 | E. Iglesias | Cuba | 11.3 |
Second Round, Heat 2 '
| Rank | Name | Country | Time |
| 1 | I. J. Murchison | USA | 10.3 EOR |
| 2 | A. Khaliq | Pakistan | 10.5 |
| 3 | I. Konovalov | USSR | 10.7 |
| 4 | L. Gnocchi | Italy | 10.8 |
| 5 | E. Turton | Trinidad | 11.2 |
| 6 | B. K. Nguda | Uganda | 12.8 |
On the same day, Abdul Khaliq came, after running 4x110 yards for the Victorian Relay Championship. It became difficult to run the 100 m dash. He could not perform his best because of improper rest.
Semi-final, Heat 1 '
| Rank | Name | Country | Time |
| 1 | I. J. Murchison | USA | 10.5 |
| 2 | M. Agostini | Trinidad | 10.5 |
| 3 | M. Germar | Germany | 10.6 |
| 4 | A. Khaliq | Pakistan | 10.6 |
| 5 | S. A. Levenson | Canada | 10.7 |
| 6 | I. Konovalov | USSR | 10.8 |
200 Metres
First Round, Heat 5 '
| Rank | Name | Country | Time |
| 1 | A. Khaliq | Pakistan | 21.1 |
| 2 | M. L. Rae | New Zealand | 21.4 |
| 3 | J. Pires Sobrinho | Brazil | 21.6 |
| 4 | T. A. Robinson | Bahamas | 21.6 |
| 5 | S. Jakabfy | Hungary | 21.6 |
| 6 | M. Spence | Jamaica | 21.7 |
Second Round, Heat 1 '
| Rank | Name | Country | Time |
| 1 | A. Khaliq | Pakistan | 21.1 |
| 2 | M. Agostini | Trinidad | 21.1 |
| 3 | L. Pohl | Germany | 21.3 |
| 4 | L. Bartenev | USSR | 21.4 |
| 5 | B. Goldoványi | Hungary | 21.5 |
| 6 | E. Schmidt | Poland | 21.6 |
Semi-final, Heat 1 '
| Rank | Name | Country | Time |
| 1 | W. T. Backer | USA | 21.1 |
| 2 | B. Morrow | USA | 21.3 |
| 3 | J. Telles da Conceicao | Brazil | 21.4 |
| 4 | A. Khaliq | Pakistan | 21.5 |
| 5 | K. Haas | Germany | 21.5 |
| 6 | M. L. Rae | New Zealand | 21.5 |
4*100 Metres Relay
Round One, Heat 1 '
Athletes from the following five countries participated in this round.
1. The United States 2. Great Britain 3. Pakistan 4. Venezuela 5. Liberia
| 1st Part | 2nd Part | 3rd Part | 4th Part | Time |
| Thane Baker | Leamon King | Bobby Joe Morrow | Ira Murchison | 40.5s |
| Kenneth Box | Roy Sandstrom | David Segal | Brian Shenton | 41.2s |
| Abdul Aziz | Muhamad Sharif Butt | Abdul Khaliq | Ghulam Raziq | 41.3s |
| Alfonso Bruno | Clive Bonas | Rafael Romero | Apolinar Solorzano | 42.0s |
| George Johnson | Edward Martins | Emmanuel Gbecy Putu | James Roberts | 47.7s |
Semi-final, Heat 2 '
Athletes from the following six countries participated in this round.
1. Soviet Union 2. Germany 3. Great Britain 4. Australia 5. Pakistan 6. Japan
| 1st Part | 2nd Part | 3rd Part | 4th Part | Time |
| Leonid Bartenev | Yuri Konovalov | Vladimir Soukharev | Boris Tokarev | 40.3s |
| Heinz Futterer | Manfred Germar | Lothar Knorzer | Leonhard Pohl | 40.5s |
| Kenneth Box | Roy Sandstrom | David Segal | Brian Shenton | 40.6s |
| Gavin Carragher | Hector Hogan | Raymond Land | Edward McGlynn | 40.8s |
| Abdul Aziz | Muhamad Sharif Butt | Abdul Khaliq | Ghulam Raziq | 40.8s |
| Kanji Akagi | Akira Kiyofuji | Masaji Tajima | Kyohei Ushio | 41.3s |
Final Standing in Melbourne Olympics
1957
World Military Games Athen
In the 100-metre dash, Abdul Khaliq got 2nd place and was beaten by USA. Pakistan secured the fifth position.Tehran (Iran)
In Tehran, he won the 100- and 200-metre gold medals.Manchester Athletics Meet
Abdul Khaliq equaled the British all-comer record of 9.6 sec for the 100-yard sprints. He won by inches from American B. Thomes.Dublin Athletics Meet
Khaliq won the 100-yard dash at 9.8 sec. He beat Britain's D. Roberts.Glasgow Rangers Sports
Khaliq won two events. Abdul Khaliq clocked 11.6 seconds in the 120 yards handicap, where he started from scratch. In 220 yards, he was too fast for the British runner. He beat Shenton, who ran a 22.0-sec race.Highland Games Edinburg (Scotland)
Khaliq participated in 100 yards and got first position, with a time of 9.9 seconds.1958
London
Khaliq finished close second to Brittan's R. Sandsorm in the 100m dash, with a time of 10.6 seconds.British Empire and Commonwealth Games at Cardiff
He was a 100-yard semi-finalist, clocking in at 9.8 seconds.1958 Asian Games at Tokyo
Khaliq participated in the 3rd Asian Games in Tokyo. He defended his title in the 100 m race, by defeating Kyohei Ushio of Japan. Abdul Khaliq won 3 medals in the 3rd Asian Games. With Khaliq's contributions, Pakistan secured 2nd position in Athletics and 6th in the overall rankings.Dual Empire Games
Khaliq was 3rd in the 100 yards.London
Khaliq won the 220 yards, with 21.5 seconds.1959
Goetburgh (Sweden)
In the 100 m race, Khaliq was 4th.Malmo
In the 100 m race, Khaliq was third.Gavel
Khaliq finished behind Abdon Saye of France in 21.9 seconds in 200m.----
Boraas
Khaliq took 200m dash in 21.7 sec.200m 21.7sec
Gothenburg
Khaliq was second in 100m one tenth of a second behind the winner.100m 10.8sec
Bradford (England)
Khaliq won the 100 yards race clocking 10.1sec100 yards Gold Medal
International Meet at Dublin
Khaliq triumphed in the 220 yards clocking 22.2 sec to win.Glasgow (Scotland)
Khaliq won the 120 yards sprint in 11.6sec.1960
World Olympics 1960 (Rome)
100 metresFirst Round, Heat 2 '
Abdul Khaliq had passed his peek time so he could not qualify for the next round.
| Rank | Name | Country | Time |
| 1 | Seraphino Antao | KEN | 10.5s |
| 2 | Armin Hary | GER | 10.6s |
| 3 | Heinz Mueller | SUI | 10.8s |
| 4 | Gustav Ntiforo | GHA | 11.0s |
| 5 | Isaac Gomez | PHI | 11.0s |
| 6 | Dennis Tipping | AUS | 11.2s |
| 7 | Abdul Khaliq | PAK | 11.2s |
4*100 Metres Relay
Round One, Heat 3 '
Athletes from the following five Countries Participated in this round.
1. Germany 2. Pakistan 3. Poland 4. Grece
| 1st part | 2nd part | 3rd part | 4th part | Time |
| Bernd Cullmann | Armin Hary | Walter Mahlendorf | Martin Lauer | 39.5s |
| Ioannis Komitoudis | Constantin Lolos | Leonidas Kormalis | Nikolaos Georgopoulos | 41.6s |
| Abdul Malik | Muhamad Ramzan Ali | Ghulam Raziq | Abdul Khaliq | 42.5s |
| Marian Foik | Janusz Jarzembowski | Jozef Schmidt | Jerzy Juskowiak | DQ |
Cairo
100m Gold Medal200m Gold Medal
International Meet at Lahore
100m 10.4 seconds Gold medal.200m Bronze Medal
4*100m 41.5 seconds Gold Medal
1962
World Milary Games (Holland)
100m Bronze MedalInternational Meet in Ipoh (Malaysia)
100m Silver Medal200m Bronze Medal
1962 Asian Games at Jakarta
In 100 meters Pakistan's both entries failed to qualify for the final. Holder of the previous two meets, Khaliq, finished fourth in the semi-final with 10.7 seconds.In 200 Khaliq qualified for the semi-final but did not produce the same to qualify for finals.
Coaching career
Athletic coaches clinic attended
1967 at Murree for 6 weeks under German Coach1974 at Hassan Abdal under USA Coaches
1976 at Lahore under Russian Coaches
1981 at Rawalpindi under I.O.C Coaches
Coaching
- Army Coach 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970 & 1971
- Punjab 1974 & 1975
- National Coach 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 & 1978
- Joined National Sports Trust Asian Athletics Coach 23 December 1975
- Punjab Sports Board Teachers Clinics
- National Coaches Clinic 1976
- Local PTI Clinic Lahore 1979
Achievements