Mehboob Shamsher Biography 
Mehboob Shamsher was the first-ever Olympian swimmer from India. Khan became a national hero way back in 1956 when he became first Indian swimmer to have finished in 5th slot in the Melbourne summer Olympics. It’s quite surprising that even after 5 decades no Indian swimmer could beat Khan's record of reaching the 5th place, despite given importance to sports and Olympic Games in the recent times. He served in Indian army for nearly 24 years and retired in the rank of Subedar. This unsung hero passed away on October 15, 2017 at Kaithepalle village near Repalle town and the media didn’t notice it. He died of cardiac stroke at the age of 87.
Mehboob Shamsher was recruited into the Indian Army in 1946 at the age of 16. He was inducted into Bangalore’s Madras Engineer Group, which fought two crucial Indian battles, against China in 1962 and Pakistan in 1973. During this tenure, he exhibited his talents in athletics. Khan used to accompany his father to nearby pond since younger days, and thus learned swimming too. However, he received formal training only after he joined the army. He stood at first in a swimming tournament at Mysore in 1949, and since then he got fully active in the game.
In 1954, Khan set the national record for the 200-metre butterfly event. The following year, he swept all records at the national meet in Bangalore, which gave him the direct entry to compete in Melbourne summer Olympics in 1956. Indian government sponsored just the airfare to Melbourne, and Khan had to take a loan of 300 rupees from Army for his travel and food expenses. Quite surprising his salary was only 56 then, and Indian army deducted the amount after he returned. He stood at fourth position, a record till to be broken.
Though many of his contemporaries have been felicitated by the government, he didn’t receive any, for which the national champion was upset till his last days. Though he spent his last days only from his pension, he refused to take any financial assistance from locals. He has two sons. Khan's elder son Sajid Vali Khan is still serving Indian army. He spent his last days with his younger son and family.
Published: N/A
Updated: October 23, 2017
