While this year was a tough one for many people due to the ongoing pandemic and its newly-mutated COVID-19 variant, Omicron, we also got to see a fair share of ups and downs in the world of sports. While this year was marked to be one of the most glorious years in the history of Indian sports, it also had many sad moments. To mark the glory, there was the Olympic gold won by the track and field star Rajeev Chopra. On top of it, there were many sporting legends in India and the world that we sadly lost too. Let’s have a look at them.
Novy Kapadia
Considered to be the ‘authority’ in Indian football, the 67-year-old Novy Kapadia died this November. He had covered 9 FIFA World Cups during his lifetime. However, he had been rendered bedridden during the last couple of years of his life.
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Leon Spinks
The man to shook up the boxing world by beating Muhammad Ali for the world heavyweight title in 1978, also succumbed to various forms of cancer this year. He lost the battle of his life at the age of 67.
Lee Evans
The man to attract attention towards the racism in the US at the world’s biggest sporting stage, the Olympics, died this year. Lee Evans who had won two gold medals in the 1968 Olympics, raised his fist during the medal ceremony against racism. He had set the record for the fastest 400m sprint which he held from 1968 to 1988.
Milkha Singh & Nirmal Kaur
The Flying Sikh of India also died of COVID complications this year. His wife and the former national volleyball captain, Nirmal Kaur, also died five days earlier.
O Chandrashekhar
This year, we lost yet another gem of the glorious Indian national football team that won the gold in the 1962 Asian Games. He was none other than O Chandrashekhar. He died aged 85.
Syed Shahid Hakim
Another former Indian football player died this year. He was part of the Indian team that represented India in football in the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Marvin Hagler
One of the greatest pugilists in the history of the sport, Marvin Hagler breathed his last this year. The former middleweight champion, he is known for his notable title reign and his record of 62-3-2 that he amassed during his professional career that spanned 14 years.
Max Mosley
He was the former F1 president from 1993 to 2008.
