Former Olympian Leslie Claudius passes away
21 Dec 2012 1:38 AM GMT
Legendary hockey player and one of India’s greatest Olympians Leslie Claudius, passed away in this eastern Indian city on Thursday, after a prolonged illness, his son Brandon informed.
Claudius was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver and frequently needed hospitalisation in the past couple of years.
He was 85-years-old and is survived by wife and son.
Claudius had three Olympic gold medals - London 1948, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956. At Rome in 1960, he led India to a silver-medal finish.
Claudius was being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a local hospital for abnormal fluid retention. ‘In fact his condition had got better yesterday and doctors were hopeful of discharging him. But today morning, it deteriorated,’ Brandon said.
HOCKEY FRATERNITY MOURNS DEATH
Hockey fraternity today mourned the death of legendary Leslie Claudius with players across all generations terming that the passing away of triple Olympic gold medallist marked the end of an era.
Parent body of Hockey in the country, Hockey India condoled the death of the Claudius.
‘We had the good fortune of being able to honour Leslie Claudius along with the other Golden Greats before the Olympic Games earlier this year. His death leaves a void that will be hard to fill,’ HI President Mariamma Koshy stated.
Dhanraj Pillay described Leslie Claudius as the ‘God of Indian hockey’ while the hockey fraternity mourned the death of three-time Olympic gold medallist.
‘For me, he was the hockey God. It’s difficult to imagine Indian hockey without him. He was not only a fine player but what stood him apart was his good nature,’ said.
Claudius was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver and frequently needed hospitalisation in the past couple of years.
He was 85-years-old and is survived by wife and son.
Claudius had three Olympic gold medals - London 1948, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956. At Rome in 1960, he led India to a silver-medal finish.
Claudius was being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a local hospital for abnormal fluid retention. ‘In fact his condition had got better yesterday and doctors were hopeful of discharging him. But today morning, it deteriorated,’ Brandon said.
HOCKEY FRATERNITY MOURNS DEATH
Hockey fraternity today mourned the death of legendary Leslie Claudius with players across all generations terming that the passing away of triple Olympic gold medallist marked the end of an era.
Parent body of Hockey in the country, Hockey India condoled the death of the Claudius.
‘We had the good fortune of being able to honour Leslie Claudius along with the other Golden Greats before the Olympic Games earlier this year. His death leaves a void that will be hard to fill,’ HI President Mariamma Koshy stated.
Dhanraj Pillay described Leslie Claudius as the ‘God of Indian hockey’ while the hockey fraternity mourned the death of three-time Olympic gold medallist.
‘For me, he was the hockey God. It’s difficult to imagine Indian hockey without him. He was not only a fine player but what stood him apart was his good nature,’ said.
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