Former Indian athlete Milkha Singh died on Friday at the age of 91 after battling COVID-19 for almost a month. Also known as the ‘Flying Sikh‘, he was the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal at an individual event at the Commonwealth Games. He also represented India in three Olympics, in Melbourne, Rome and Tokyo, in 1956, 1960 and 1964, respectively. 

Social media users react to the death of the legendary Indian athlete:

Australian newspaper The Age famously wrote in 2006, “Milkha Singh is the only Indian to have broken an Olympic track record. Unfortunately, he was the fourth man to do so in the same race.”

Singh was honoured with a Padma Shri award, the fourth-highest civilian award for an Indian. He co-wrote an autobiography ‘The Race of My Life’, the book that inspired the Bollywood film ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’.