Sourav Ganguly, the graceful let-handed batsman who made a statement at Lord's with a century on debut and plenty of runs last year, was given the Sportsperson of the Year award.

Milkha Singh, who as a 12-year-old escaped the clutches of death, walked with a caravan of bullockcarts from West Punjab and hid among the corpses in a train compartment to reach Delhi at the height of the communal horrors of partition way back in 1947 and who in the 60s left his imprint on the tracks, was awarded the Legend of Indian Sport. Koneru Humpy, the little girl with a serious countenance, who won the World Under-10 Chess Championship, and the dashing Rajiv Mishra, who was the swordarm of the Indian hockey team which reached the final of the Junior World Cup at Milton Keynes, were given the Young Achievers Award by chief guest Raj Singh Dungarpur, the president of Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Milkha Singh, who was at his vituperative best, stole the thunder from other speakers. He started off cracking a joke at his own expense the anecdote two little kids told him in one of his journeys. The Flying Sikh, who enthralled the spectators with his brilliant oratory, said it is a crying shame that the country could not produce another Milkha in 40 years. ``It is sad the country, however, has produced 27,000 coaches. I did not have running shoes or a track suit and I ran bare foot. Today the athletes enjoy many facilities but we cannot win a medal at Asian level. If Usha stops, India's will be finished,'' said Milkha.Milkha blamed the decline of athletics on the educational system which he termed it as ``all wrong''.

The Sportstar, wishing the award winners success and happiness, said they deserved to be there on the stage. ``Milkha was the greatest track athlete of all time while Mishra and Hampi made a deep impression in their chosen sport.