Several Indian athletes and teams have, over the years, finished 4th in their event at the Games, thus missing out on a medal by a whisker. TOI looks at all those heartbreaks...
Milkha Singh (400m, Rome 1960): The near miss at the 1960 Rome Olympics not only did hurt 'Flying Sikh' Milkha all his life but the entire nation for long as well. The bronze in the men's 400m race was well within the legendary athlete's grasp and he was leading the pack for almost 200m when an error of judgment occurred. He inexplicably slowed down before the final turn to allow South African Malcolm Spence edge past him for the bronze in a photo finish. Spence clocked 45.5 seconds, Milkha 45.6s, falling short by a mere 0.1s.
