LEGENDARY SPRINTER MILKHA SINGH DIES DUE TO POST-COVID COMPLICATIONS
CHANDIGARH: Legendary sprinter Milkha Singh died of post Covid-19 complications late on Friday night after being admitted to the intensive care unit at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMR), Chandigarh. He was 91. His wife, former India women’s volleyball captain Nirmal Kaur, 85, succumbed to Covid-19 complications at a private hospital in Mohali on June 13. They are survived by their son, the golfer Jeev Milkha Singh, who is 49, and three daughters.
“He fought hard but God has his ways and it was perhaps true love and companionship that both our mother Nirmalji and now Dad have passed away in a matter of 5 days,” read a statement from the family.
Milkha’s health worsened on Friday, barely three days after he was shifted out of the Covid-19 intensive care unit. Hospital authorities said that he was running a fever since Thursday and that his oxygen levels had started dropping. The four-time Asian Games gold medallist and Commonwealth Games gold medallist had tested positive for Covid-19 on May 19, but had recently been moved to the nonCovid part of the hospital after testing negative.
Milkha, who was known as “The Flying Sikh”, never lost the crown of being independent India’s greatest track athlete. His life and career was one of remarkable resilience and fulfilment. His coming through the trauma of post-partition riots to rise to athletic eminence made him a household name among Indians, at home or abroad.
If Milkha’s image was still cast as a towering but tragic sporting figure, it was because he missed the 400m bronze at the 1960 Rome Olympics when the ath
letic world, not just India, had taken a medal as certain.
Despite missing an Olympic bronze by 1/10th of a second in a race where both the gold and silver medallists broke the world record, he remained a colossus in Indian sports, the reference point every time the sporting culture of the country was discussed. That run in Rome still remains the gold standard for Indians. No Indian athlete has won a medal in the 14 editions since then, which has contributed to his enduring legend and served a painful reminder every four years.
Going stride for stride with contemporary greats was farthest from his mind when he arrived in Delhi as a shattered teenager, one of thousands of refugees who had barely escaped with his life in the newly created Pakistan. Born in Llayalpur, Faisalabad in present-day Pakistan, he was lucky to survive the atrocities after witnessing the killing of his parents and a sister. Traumatised and malnourished reaching Delhi, he was even jailed briefly for ticketless train travel. Milkha was determined to join the army. He was rejected thrice, and being too frail didn’t help. His never-say-die attitude paid off eventually as he was selected the fourth time. Tributes poured in for the legendary sprinter from all sections of the society.
Condoling his death, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh directed a state funeral for the athlete. “We’re giving him a state funeral in Punjab and have declared a one-day holiday. It’s a great loss for all of us. Younger generations will get inspired by him,” Singh said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his condolence message late on Friday. “In the passing away of Shri Milkha Singh Ji, we have lost a colossal sportsperson, who captured the nation’s imagination and had a special place in the hearts of countless Indians. His inspiring personality endeared himself to millions,” he said.