Sports

Sprint Legend Milkha Singh Battles 'Rough Day', Oxygen Saturation Level Dips

Milkha's wife Nirmal Kaur (85), who had also contracted the virus days after her husband tested positive, died few days back

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Sprint Legend Milkha Singh Battles 'Rough Day', Oxygen Saturation Level Dips
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Legendary Indian sprinter Milkha Singh has developed a fever and his oxygen saturation level has also dropped as he battles to regain his health, after a bout with COVID-19, in the Intensive Care Unit of the PGIMER hospital in Chandigarh on Friday.  (More Sports News)

The 91-year-old, who tested negative for COVID-19 on Wednesday and was shifted to the general ICU, is being closely monitored by a team of doctors.

"He suddenly developed a fever Thursday night and his oxygen saturation levels dipped. A team of doctors is monitoring him," PGIMER sources said on Friday.

Milkha had been "stable before this.

"It's been a slightly rough day for Milkha Ji. But he is battling away," read a statement from his family.

He had contracted COVID-19 last month and his 85-year-old wife Nirmal Kaur, who had also been infected by the virus, passed away at a private hospital in Mohali on Sunday.

Kaur was a former national women's volleyball team captain.

Milkha was admitted to PGIMER on June 3 after his oxygen levels dipped at home following treatment at the Fortis hospital in Mohali for a week.

The legendary athlete is a four-time Asian Games gold medallist and 1958 Commonwealth Games champion but his greatest performance remains the fourth-place finish in the 400m final of the 1960 Rome Olympics.

He also represented India in the 1956 and 1964 Olympics and was bestowed the Padma Shri in 1959.