Milkha Singh's last rites being performed at Chandigarh, know more

Photo courtesy: ANI

Chandigarh:  Indian former sprinter Milkha Singh died of COVID-19 related complications in a hospital in Chandigarh late on Friday (June 18) night. 

The last rites of former sprinter Milkha Singh are being performed at the cremation ground at Matka Chowk, in Chandigarh.

#WATCH | Last rites of former Indian sprinter #MilkhaSingh, widely regarded as Flying Sikh, performed with state honours in Chandigarh pic.twitter.com/0sDnKjIY1Y — ANI (@ANI) June 19, 2021

Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, Punjab Governor & Union Territory Chandigarh Administrator VP Singh Badnore, and Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh are among those present at the cremation ground. 

Last rites of former sprinter #MilkhaSingh being performed at the cremation ground at Matka Chowk, in Chandigarh

Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, Punjab Governor & UT Chandigarh Administrator VP Singh Badnore, and Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh are among those present pic.twitter.com/Y1DTC3Ckq9 — ANI (@ANI) June 19, 2021

He had contracted COVID-19 last month and his 85-year-old wife Nirmal Kaur, who had also been infected by the virus, passed away at a private hospital in Mohali on Sunday.

Nirmal Kaur was a former national women's volleyball team captain.

Milkha was admitted to PGIMER on June 3 after his oxygen levels dipped at home following treatment at the Fortis hospital in Mohali for a week.

The legendary athlete is a four-time Asian Games gold medallist and 1958 Commonwealth Games champion but his greatest performance remains the fourth-place finish in the 400m final of the 1960 Rome Olympics.

He also represented India in the 1956 and 1964 Olympics and was bestowed the Padma Shri in 1959.

The 91-year-old sprinter died at a hospital in Chandigarh after a month-long battle with COVID-19, during which he lost his wife and former national volleyball captain Nirmal Kaur to the same ailment.