Shoaib Malik sends condolences to family of 'Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh

• Track and field athlete Milkha Singh passed away a day earlier from coronavirus-related complications.
• Shoaib Malik says that his legacy "will fly high, always".
• He was famously known as the "Flying Sikh" due to his lightening speed.

Shoaib Malik took to Twitter on Saturday to mourn the loss of Indian track and field athlete, Milkha Singh, who passed away due to coronavirus a day earlier.

Singh won four Asian gold medals and finished fourth in the 400m final at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He was famously known as the flying Singh due to his lightening speed.

The 91-year-old athlete was diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this month and passed away due to post-coronavirus complications.

Malik took to Twitter to pay tribute to the legend, saying that his legacy "will fly high, always".

Singh spent his childhood in Pakistan and moved to India after his family was killed in the unrest during partition. However, he still held high regard for both his homelands. In an autobiography by Punjabi poet Pash, he said: “History resulted in partition of India and Pakistan but I am Milkha Singh - whose childhood was spent in Pakistan and youth was spent in India. Wherever I ran, India and Pakistan both ran with me.”

It was General Ayub Khan who gave Milkha his world-renowned nickname the "Flying Sikh".

Ayub reportedly said to Milkha while bestowing him the medal that he did not run but actually "flew" in Pakistan.

“If Milkha Singh is known as the 'Flying Sikh' in the whole world today, the credit goes to General Ayub and to Pakistan," Singh said in an interview with BBC.