New Delhi: Nirmal Kaur, former Indian volleyball captain and wife of sprinter Milkha Singh, passed away at a hospital in Mohali in Punjab yesterday. She was 85.

In a statement on Sunday, Milkha Singh family said: “We are deeply saddened to inform you that Mrs. Nirmal Milkha Singh passed away at 4 PM today.”

She is survived by husband Milkha Singh, daughters Dr. Mona Singh, Aleeza Grover and Sonia Sanwalka and son Jeev Milkha Singh. Nirmal was cremated on Sunday evening. Milkha Singh, who is still in the ICU of PGIMER, could not attend the cremation.

Milkha Singh in a chapter titled ‘The jewels in my crown’ in his autobiography — The Race of My Life — wrote, “Nimmi is a devoted wife and mother. I am still amazed by how efficiently she manages her personal and professional life without letting either of them suffer.”

The couple had married on May 5, 1963 and had first met in Sri Lanka in 1959, where Milkha had gone to compete in an athletic competition and Nirmal was captaining the Indian women’s volleyball team.