One of India's biggest sporting icons, ace sprinter Milkha Singh, died on June 18 after a month-long battle with COVID-19, during which he lost his wife Nirmal Kaur, a former national volleyball captain, to the dreaded virus. Here are interesting things about the legendary sprinter. (Image: AFP)
Singh was born in 1929 in Govindpura, in what is now Pakistan. He lost his family during the Partition that came with independence in 1947, when the country was divided into Pakistan and India, before going on to become one of the young country's first athletic heroes.
The Padma Shri awardee, often called 'The Flying Sikh' for his accomplishments, was 91. His rise to elite athlete made Singh a national hero and inspired a Bollywood film in 2013 called "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" (Run, Milkha, Run). The movie title refers to the poignant last words spoken to Singh by his father. As he was dying, he told Singh to flee or he, too, would be killed in the post-partition riots sweeping the subcontinent. (Image: AFP)
The legendary athlete was a four-time Asian Games gold medallist and the 1958 Commonwealth Games champion but his greatest performance remains 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. (Image: Shutterstock)
Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar essayed the role of 'The Flying Sikh' in the biographical drama Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. He still is the only Indian athlete to win Gold in the Asian and Commonwealth Championship. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour, in recognition of his sporting achievements in 1959. (Image: AFP)
Bollywood director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (C-R) hands over the Best Picture trophy to Milkha Singh during the fourth and final day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, April 27, 2014. (Image: AFP)
Milkha Singh died at Chandigarh's PGIMER hospital, less than a week after he lost his wife Nirmal Kaur to the same ailment. He is survived by his golfer son Jeev Milkha Singh and three daughters Dr Mona Singh, Aleeza Grover and Sonia Sanwalka.