Olympian marathoner Surat Singh Mathur dies at 90

Surat Singh Mathur, the first athlete from independent India to complete an Olympic marathon race, died of COVID-19 at the age of 90 on Friday.

Surat Singh Mathur competed in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, finishing 52nd with a timing of 2 hours 58 minutes and 9.2 seconds.

Though Chhota Singh holds the distinction of being the first marathon runner from independent India to compete at the Olympics, he dropped out after the 30km mark at the 1948 Olympics in London.

Born in Mohammadpur Majri village (Karala) in the outskirts of Delhi, Surat Singh Mathur won the bronze medal at the first-ever Asian Games in 1951, finishing behind compatriot Chhota Singh and highly-rated Japanese runner Katsuo Nishida.

The following year, Suraj Singh Mathur became the national champion for the first time in Chhota Singh's absence to earn a berth for the Helsinki Games.

In a challenging field that also featured legendary Czech runner Emil Zatopek, Suraj Singh Mathur completed the full course to finish 52nd and earned his place in Indian sports history. All finishers came home inside three hours in an Olympic marathon for the first time.

Mathur finished with the bronze medal at the 1953 nationals while Chhota Singh claimed gold with a 2:33:24.4s - which was a national record at the time.

At the 1954 National Games in Madras (now Chennai), Surat Singh Mathur finally got one over Chhota Singh and claimed his second national title.

After his retirement, Surat Singh Mathur was twice part of an Olympic torch relay. He was also honoured by the Olympic Council of Asia during the inauguration of its headquarters at Kuwait City in 2009.

Surat Singh Mathur also worked as a teacher and an athletics coach at different phases of his life.