COVID-19 positive Milkha Singh hospitalised after drop in oxygen level
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Legendary Indian athlete Milkha Singh has been admitted to a hospital in Mohali on Monday after his oxygen level dipped after testing positive for COVID-19. His son and golf icon Jeev Milkha Singh has confirmed the development while adding that his father’s condition is stable.
Legendary Indian athlete Milkha Singh has been admitted to a hospital in Mohali on Monday after his oxygen level dipped after testing positive for COVID-19. His son and golf icon Jeev Milkha Singh has confirmed the development while adding that his father’s condition is stable.
The 91-year-old Commonwealth Games gold-medallist had tested positive for COVID-19 on May 20. He was shifted to Fortis Hospital on Monday as a precautionary measure.
Milkha Singh was also suffering from dehydration, possibly due to diarrhea and vomiting.
"He has been hospitalised. He was weak and not eating since yesterday, so we had to hospitalise him. Though his parameters seemed alright, we thought it is safer to have him admitted where he would be under supervision of senior doctors," Jeev Milkha Singh told PTI.
"He is under good care of doctors there. He is a strong man, always positive and will recover soon," added the ace golfer, who reached India on Saturday from Dubai after his father tested positive last week.
In 2020, Milkha Singh and his 49-year-old son Jeev had donated INR 200,000 to help India combat the dreaded coronavirus pandemic.
Hailed as ‘The Flying Sikh’, Milkha Singh has carved many memorable moments in his career despite failing to win an Olympic medal. His iconic 400-metre race at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, where he became the first Indian male athlete to reach the summit clash of an Olympic event, is still cherished by many and all.
Milkha started as one of the favourites and led that race but eventually missed out on a podium finish after trailing by 0.1 seconds. Despite finishing fourth, he set a new national record that was untouched for almost 40 years. He was also the first athlete to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal for India in the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.