A great loss to the country!

Datuk Victor Asirvatham or fondly known as Asir, the former national 400m runner passed away peacefully earlier today at the Ipoh Specialist Hospital. He was 80.

It was reported that Asir breathed his last due to medical complications which happened after his surgery.

Asir won his first gold medal in the 1961 Games in Myanmar and earned the title of ‘The 400m King of South-East Asia’.

The diminutive man who paved the way in the sports arena has competed in four Olympic Games, made his debut in 1964 in Tokyo. He was also in Munich in 1972. Asir never won a medal, but he still returned to Malaysia with his head held high, proud of his country.

Among his best achievements was earning 14 gold medals in six SEAP (now SEA) Games from 1961 to 1973. And his athletics career came to the end in 1974 after he debuted in his final competition at the Asian Games in Teheran.

Team Varnam extends our heartfelt condolences to the family of Asir.

Legends never truly die, their memory and legacy lives on in us all. Rest in ultimate peace in the arms of our maker.