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Siniša Mihajlović, Soccer Player and Coach, Dies at 53

Former Serbian soccer player and coach Siniša Mihajlović poses for photos ahead of the UEFA Champions league match between Red Star and SSC Napoli in Belgrade, Serbia, 18 September 2018. (issued on 16 December 2022). (EPA)
Former Serbian soccer player and coach Siniša Mihajlović poses for photos ahead of the UEFA Champions league match between Red Star and SSC Napoli in Belgrade, Serbia, 18 September 2018. (issued on 16 December 2022). (EPA)
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Siniša Mihajlović, Soccer Player and Coach, Dies at 53

Former Serbian soccer player and coach Siniša Mihajlović poses for photos ahead of the UEFA Champions league match between Red Star and SSC Napoli in Belgrade, Serbia, 18 September 2018. (issued on 16 December 2022). (EPA)
Former Serbian soccer player and coach Siniša Mihajlović poses for photos ahead of the UEFA Champions league match between Red Star and SSC Napoli in Belgrade, Serbia, 18 September 2018. (issued on 16 December 2022). (EPA)

Siniša Mihajlović, a former standout soccer player in his native Serbia and then Italy who became a popular coach in Serie A, has died after a long battle with leukemia. He was 53. 

Mihajlović’s family announced Friday that he died in a Rome hospital. 

Mihajlović had most recently coached Bologna for 3 ½ years, becoming a sentimental favorite of fans and players alike for his desire to remain on the job even after he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2019. 

Players sometimes gathered under Mihajlović’s hospital window when the coach was receiving treatment. 

He was fired by Bologna in September. 

A full-back and free kick specialist, Mihajlović was on the Red Star Belgrade team that won the European Cup in 1991. He also won Serie A as a player with Lazio in 2000 and was on the Inter Milan team that was given the 2006 Serie A title after Juventus was stripped of the honor for the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal. 

“The Serie A league is deeply pained by the death of Siniša Mihajlović,” the Italian league tweeted. “His pure class as a footballer and coach, his strength and his humanity are an example that leaves an indelible void in Italian and world soccer.” 

Mihajlović also coached Catania, Fiorentina, Serbia’s national team, Sampdoria, AC Milan and Torino. 

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'World's Oldest Marathon Runner' Dies Aged 114 in Road Accident

(FILES) Indian-born British national Fauja Singh (C) waves a Hong Kong flag after crossing the finish line in the 10-km event as part of the Hong Kong Marathon on February 24, 2013. (Photo by Dale DE LA REY / AFP)
(FILES) Indian-born British national Fauja Singh (C) waves a Hong Kong flag after crossing the finish line in the 10-km event as part of the Hong Kong Marathon on February 24, 2013. (Photo by Dale DE LA REY / AFP)
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'World's Oldest Marathon Runner' Dies Aged 114 in Road Accident

(FILES) Indian-born British national Fauja Singh (C) waves a Hong Kong flag after crossing the finish line in the 10-km event as part of the Hong Kong Marathon on February 24, 2013. (Photo by Dale DE LA REY / AFP)
(FILES) Indian-born British national Fauja Singh (C) waves a Hong Kong flag after crossing the finish line in the 10-km event as part of the Hong Kong Marathon on February 24, 2013. (Photo by Dale DE LA REY / AFP)

India's Fauja Singh, believed to be the world's oldest distance runner, has died in a road accident aged 114, his biographer said Tuesday.

Singh, an Indian-born British national, nicknamed the "Turbaned Tornado", died after being hit by a vehicle in Punjab state's Jalandhar district on Monday, AFP reported.

"My Turbaned Tornado is no more," Fauja's biographer Khushwant Singh wrote on X.

"He was struck by an unidentified vehicle... in his village, Bias, while crossing the road. Rest in peace, my dear Fauja."

Singh did not have a birth certificate but his family said he was born on April 1, 1911.

He ran full marathons (42 kilometer) till the age of 100.

His last race was a 10-kilometer (six-mile) event at the 2013 Hong Kong Marathon when 101, where he finished in one hour, 32 minutes and 28 seconds.

He became an international sensation after taking up distance running at the ripe old age of 89, after the death of his wife and one of his sons, inspired by seeing marathons on television.

Although widely regarded as the world's oldest marathon runner, he was not certified by Guinness World Records as he could not prove his age, saying that birth certificates did not exist when he was born under British colonial rule in 2011.

Singh was a torchbearer for the Olympics at Athens 2004 and London 2012, and appeared in advertisements with sports stars such as David Beckham and Muhammad Ali.

His strength and vitality were credited to a routine of farm walks and a diet including Indian sweet "laddu" packed with dry fruits and home-churned curd.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute on social media.

"Fauja Singh was extraordinary because of his unique persona and the manner in which he inspired the youth of India on a very important topic of fitness," said Modi on X.

"He was an exceptional athlete with incredible determination. Pained by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family and countless admirers around the world."