HYDERABAD: Telangana sports minister V Srinivas Goud on Saturday paid tributes to legendary sprinter
Milkha Singh. The 91-year-old sports icon died at a hospital in Chandigarh on Friday night after a month-long battle with Covid-19.
“It's very sad to learn about the demise of great Milkha Singh. He won several medals for the country. His career is an inspiration for the next generations in the sports,” the minister said in a statement.
Milkha passed away less than a week after he lost his wife Nirmal Kaur, a former national volleyball captain, to the same ailment. He is survived by his golfer son Jeev Milkha Singh and three daughters
A
Padma Shri awardee, Milkha Singh was nicknamed 'The Flying Sikh' for his achievements on the athletics track.
The legendary athlete was a four-time
Asian Games gold medallist and the 1958 Commonwealth Games champion but his greatest performance remained the fourth-place finish in the 400m final of the 1960 Rome Olympics.
His timing of 45.6
sec
at the Italian capital remained the national record for 38 years before Paramjeet Singh broke it in 1998. He also represented India in the 1956 and 1964 Olympics and was bestowed the Padma Shri in 1959.
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