Moscow Olympic gold medallist and former hockey coach M.K. Kaushik succumbs to COVID-19

Olympic gold medallist, former India coach, Arjuna, and Dronacharya awardee Maharaj Kishen Kaushik passed away at a city hospital on Saturday. He was 66 and is survived by his wife and two sons.

Kaushik had been hospitalised two weeks ago after scans revealed his lungs had been affected with pneumonia despite testing negative for COVID-19 after developing symptoms. His Oxygen saturation levels kept fluctuating, falling as low as 50 at nights after meals although he remained stable through the day.

His lungs, however, did not get better and doctors had tried life-saving drugs as well but things did not improve. He was shifted on to a ventilator earlier in the day but that did not help, his family said. His wife had also tested positive but had recovered and returned home a few days back.

A member of the 1980 gold-winning Olympic side, Kaushik was one of the rare hockey personalities who shone both as a player and coach.

Successful coach

He excelled as coach with both the men’s and women’s teams, guiding them to podium at major continental events including the Asian Games and the Asia Cup. A right-winger, Kaushik was known for his speed and thrust as a player.

Having retired as Deputy Director of Sports with Haryana, Kaushik was also in charge of the Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy and later at the National Hockey Academy in New Delhi as part of Khelo India before retiring late last month.