The 91-year-old ‘Flying Sikh’ breathed his last at PGIMER, Chandigarh, five days. after his wife Nirmal passed away.
Legendary sprinter Milkha Singh passed away late Friday night due to COVID-19, the family spokesperson confirmed. The 91-year-old ‘Flying Sikh’ breathed his last at PGIMER, Chandigarh, five days. after his wife Nirmal passed away.
BRK:Days after his wife Nirmal Kaur,85,passed away, India’s hero & Flying Sikh Milkha Singh departs.
RIP braveheart .
Legendary man who touched many a finishing line with awe-inspiring sprint
Had privilege to meet him several times.
Reported on him & his spartan kids pic.twitter.com/Z6UnhhL6az
— Rohan Dua (@rohanduaT02) June 18, 2021
The 1958 Commonwealth Games champion, a four-time Asian Games champion who captured the country’s imagination with his feats at the 1960 Rome Olympics was admitted to a private Mohali hospital on May 24. Milkha Singh had been discharged on May 30 before being taken to the COVID ward in the Nehru Hospital Extension at PGIMER on June 3 due to dipping oxygen levels.
Singh had tested negative for COVID-19 earlier this week and was shifted from the COVID-19 ICU to the medical ICU at PGIMER before his condition started to deteriorate.
Milkha Singh is survived by three daughters – Mona Singh, Aleeza Grover, and Sonia Sanwalka as well as son Jeev Milkha Singh. Golfer Jeev, a 14-time international winner, is a Padma Shri awardee like his father and had been coordinating with the medical staff at PGIMER along with elder sister Dr. Mona Singh since last month.
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Milkha Singh, born in Gobindpura – in present-day Pakistan – was the first Indian track and field athlete to win gold in the then British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff in 1958. He remained the only one for more than 50 years before discus thrower Krishna Poonia won gold at the 2010 CWG in Delhi. Singh had beaten Malcolm Spence of South Africa with a timing of 46.6 seconds in the Scottish city. While he had also won four Asian Games gold medals – 200m and 400m in 1958, and 400m and 4x400m relay in 1962 – Singh’s most memorable moment came at the 1960 Rome Olympics where he finished fourth in the 400m final in a photo-finish. Singh’s then-national record timing of 45.6 seconds, set in Rome, was broken by Paramjeet Singh in 1998.
A biographical film was also made on his life in 2013, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, starring actor Farhan Akhtar.
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