John Permal (May 31, 1946 – March 27, 2019) was a Pakistani sprinter, who, for a decade, held the distinction of being the fastest human in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Early years

Born in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, Permal obtained his primary education from St. Anthony's School, and then St. Patrick's where he completed school. Permal used to sprint from his home in

Saddar Saddar ( ur, ), also known as Saddar Bazaar, is a neighbourhood in Karachi, Pakistan. The locality was developed as the primary commercial district during the period of British-era rule in Karachi. As a result, Saddar contains the large concentr ...

, Karachi, to his school, Saint Patrick's, every morning. He received a bachelor's degree in commerce in 1966.Dawn February 28, 1970, ''John Permal Fastest Human in Pakistan''

Sprinting career

From 1964 to 1974 Permal was the undisputed fastest human in

. He first became Pakistan's fastest man at the 1965 National Games in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, where he actually finished second. He retained the 100 m fastest-man-in-Pakistan title in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

in 1967, at

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

in 1968, at Karachi in 1970, at

Nawabshah Nawabshah ( sd, نوابشاھ, ur, ) is a tehsil and headquarters of the Shaheed Benazirabad District of Sindh province, Pakistan. This city is situated in the middle of Sindh province. It is the 27th largest city in Pakistan. Nawabshah Tehsi ...

in 1971, and again in Lahore for the last time in 1973. His best time came in 1969 at a

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

athletics meet where he clocked 10.4 seconds for the 100 metres event. The biggest triumph of his athletic career was the gold medal that he won for Sindh in the 400 metres relay at the National Games at

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

in 1968. During the pinnacle of his career, the international press considered him to be one of the most feared sprinters from his part of the world. He represented Pakistan with distinction at two

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

, both at

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

, in 1966 and 1970, and the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 1970. When interviewed by the local English daily, ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...

'', Permal attributed his success on the track to the support of his school coach Jacob Harris.

Later years

Having retired from sprinting in 1974, Permal took up a position with a travel agent in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. Between 1976 and 1994 he worked in the travel trade.

Personal life

Permal married Josephine in 1978 and they had three children. He returned to Pakistan in 1994.

Death

In February 2019, Permal was reported to be suffering from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

. He died on 27 March 2019 while undergoing treatment for the disease. He was 72.

References

1946 births 2019 deaths Asian Games competitors for Pakistan Sportspeople from Karachi Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Pakistan Pakistani male sprinters Pakistani Roman Catholics Pakistani people of Anglo-Indian descent People of Anglo-Indian descent St. Patrick's High School, Karachi alumni {{Pakistan-athletics-bio-stub