Milkha Singh’s final rites are being performed in Chandigarh; know more.
Milkha Singh, an Indian former sprinter, died of COVID-19-related complications in a hospital in Chandigarh late Friday night (June 18).
Former sprinter Milkha Singh’s final rites are being performed at the cremation ground in Chandigarh’s Matka Chowk.
Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, Punjab Governor & Union Territory Chandigarh Administrator VP Singh Badnore, and Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh are among those in attendance at the cremation site.
He contracted COVID-19 last month, and his 85-year-old wife Nirmal Kaur, who was also infected with the virus, died on Sunday at a private hospital in Mohali.
Nirmal Kaur was a former captain of the national women’s volleyball team.
Milkha was admitted to PGIMER on June 3 after his oxygen levels dropped at home after a week of treatment at Fortis Hospital in Mohali.
The legendary athlete is a four-time Asian Games gold medalist and the 1958 Commonwealth Games champion, but his best performance remains his fourth-place finish in the 400m final at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
He also represented India in the Olympics in 1956 and 1964, and he was awarded the Padma Shri in 1959.
The 91-year-old sprinter died at a hospital in Chandigarh after a month-long battle with COVID-19, which also claimed the life of his wife, former national volleyball captain Nirmal Kaur.
