Paan Singh Tomar was born in a small village in Bhidosa near Porsa to a Hindu Tomar family living on the banks of the Chambal River in the Tanwarghar district of the Gwalior princely state during the British Raj in India. Tomar's father was Ishwari Singh Tomar, whose younger brother Dayaram Singh Tomar established a branch of the Tomar family, which owned the most fertile agricultural land in and around the Bhidosa region. Tomar later went on to murder Babbu Singh Tomar, his nephew and grandson of Dayaram Singh Tomar, following a shady land dispute in 1977 in which Tomar was tricked out of the land.

Tomar served as Subedar in the Bengal Engineer Group, 51 Engineer Regiment based in Roorkee. He was a champion player, a national-ranking athlete in the 1950s and 60s. Legend has it that his initiation was seriously over a dispute. When Tomar enrolled in his regiment, he got into an argument with an instructor. As punishment, Tomar was ordered to run several laps of the parade ground. Running, he caught sight of other officers. He was impressed by what he saw. Soon Tomar was relieved of regular duties, kept on a special diet for army sportsmen, even enjoying other perks and benefits.

He represented India at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo Japan. Tomar was not interested in the already running steeplechase, but he discovered it in the army. He was the national champion of steeplechasing for seven years. His 9 minute and 2-second national record in the 3000-meter steeplechase event was unbroken for 10 years. The Army did not allow him to fight in the Sino-Indian War of 1962 and the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 due to his career in sports which ended in 1972.

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