[17] Singh set this record when he scored five goals in India's 6–1 victory over the Netherlands in the men's field hockey final of the 1952 Olympic Games.

Singh scored 246 goals from just 61 international caps and scored 23 goals in just 8 Olympic matches [18] Singh was the manager and chief coach of the Indian team for the 1975 Men's Hockey World Cup, which India won, and the 1971 Men's Hockey World Cup, where India earned a bronze medal.

He was one of the 16 iconic Olympians recognized[20] as an example "of human strength and endeavour, of passion, determination, hard work and achievement and demonstrates the values of the Olympic Movement".

His father was a freedom fighter who was absent most of Singh’s early years due to being frequently jailed.

In total of 8 Olympic matches he played he scored 23 goals for his nation In 1957, Singh became the first recipient of the Padma Shri award in the sports category.

That same year, he was adjudged to be the Indian Sportsperson of the Century in a national poll conducted by the Patriot newspaper.

Describing himself as a secular nationalist, he stated that he was not convinced about the idea of having a religion-based list of players, but accepted the award since he believed it might be good for the promotion of Indian hockey.

", however, published in 1952 by Sport & Pastime, Chennai, Chand wrote: “When Germany was four goals down, a ball hit Allen's pad and rebounded.

Additionally, the International Hockey Federation records also attribute only three of the eight goals to Chand in the Berlin Olympic final.

[35] The character of Himmat Singh in Gold (movie) was loosely inspired by Balbir Singh Dosanjh and various scenes shown were inspired from true incidents as Balbir was indeed handcuffed by British official as they wanted him to play forcibly for Punjab Police team.