Modi lauds 'Flying Sikh' as a colossal sportsperson
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Milkha Singh at the theatrical and music launch of his life story, the Bollywood film "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" on June 19, 2013.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
NEW DELHI • Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country had lost a "colossal sportsperson", following the death of Milkha Singh, 91, due to Covid-19 on Friday.
Sprint great Singh, who was nicknamed the "Flying Sikh", ran at three successive Olympic Games and finished fourth in the 400 metres in Rome in 1960 when the first four home all ran faster than the previous world record.
His death comes just days after his wife, former India volleyball captain Nirmal Kaur, had died due to Covid-19 too.
"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," Mr Modi tweeted.
"His inspiring personality endeared himself to millions. Anguished by his passing away. I had spoken to Shri Milkha Singh Ji just a few days ago. Little did I know it would be our last conversation."
Tributes poured in after the news broke late on Friday.
"Had the honour of meeting you and you blessed me so many times... the world will miss a legend like you... #MilkhaSingh," tweeted tennis star Sania Mirza.
"Dad just passed away," Singh's son Jeev Milkha Singh, a leading pro golfer, told the Indian Express newspaper which reported that his father had first tested positive for the virus on May 20.
Singh was born in 1929 in Govindpura, in what is now Pakistan.
He lost his family during the tumultuous partition of British-ruled India at independence in 1947, when it was divided into Pakistan and India, before going on to become one of the young country's first athletic heroes.
He won gold medals at the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games. However, he shot to fame in 1960 after a photo-finish was required to decide the 400m winner.
His time of 45.73 seconds was an Indian national record which stood for almost 40 years. But Singh never fulfilled his dream of winning an Olympic medal.
His rise to elite athlete inspired a Bollywood film in 2013 called "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" (Run, Milkha, Run) which refers to the poignant last words spoken to Singh by his father as he was dying in the post-partition riots.
"He's a larger-than-life figure for us," said the film's director Rakeysh Mehra in 2013. "He's like what Pele meant to football, or what Jesse Owens meant for track and field for the West."
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
