Legendary athlete Milkha Singh passes away at 91

TIL Desk Sports/ One of independent India’s biggest sporting icons, ace sprinter Milkha Singh, died on Friday after a month-long battle with COVID-19, during which he lost his former national volleyball captain wife Nirmal Kaur to the same ailment.

The Padma Shri awardee, who was nicknamed ‘The Flying Sikh’ for his accomplishments, was 91 and is survived by his golfer son Jeev Milkha Singh and three daughters. “It is with extreme sadness that we would like to inform you that Milkha Singh Ji passed away at 11.30 pm. on the 18th of June 2021,” read a statement from the family.

“He fought hard but God has his ways and it was perhaps true love and companionship that both our mother Nirmal ji and now Dad have passed away in a matter of 5 days,” it added. His condition turned critical this evening as he developed complications, including fever and dipping oxygen saturation levels, after a bout with COVID-19, in the Intensive Care Unit of the PGIMER hospital in Chandigarh.