John Permal, one of Pakistan’s finest athletes in 1960s and 1970s, passed away here Wednesday, his son announced via Twitter yesterday evening. According to his son Anthony Permal, who goes by the Twitter handle ‘Tony Khan’, Permal had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in June 2018. Permal’s son tweeted the following message to his followers: “John Permal, the fastest man in Pakistan, has passed into eternity with the Lord. His last race has been won. May his soul rest in peace. I love you, Dad. Thank you for you.” Permal was the fastest man in Pakistan from 1965 to 1974. He was declared Pakistan’s fastest man for the first time at the 1965 National Games in Lahore, where he finished second. He retained the 100 m fastest-man-in-Pakistan title in Rawalpindi in 1967, as well as at Dhaka in 1968, at Karachi in 1970, at Nawabshah in 1971, and again in Lahore for the last time in 1973. His greatest recorded time came in 1969 where he clocked 10.4 seconds for the 100 metres event at the Bonn athletics meet. Permal’s biggest career triumph was the gold medal that he won for Sindh in the 400 metres relay at the National Games at Dacca in 1968. He also represented Pakistan with pride at two Asian Games, both at Bangkok, in 1966 and 1970, and the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970. Permal was considered the most formidable of sprinters during the zenith of his career.