Oldest Sprinter Man Kaur Can Put Your Fitness Routine to Shame

With over 20 gold medals to her name in international competitions, Man Kaur is anything but your usual granny.

Man Kaur with the gold medals she won in shot put and javelin events. 

(Photo: AP)

She may be 101 years old, but she can give competitors half her age on the running track a run for their money.

Man Kaur is a centenarian sprinter from Chandigarh in Punjab. With 20 gold medals to her name in international competitions, Kaur is anything but your usual granny.

She wakes up early morning for practice. She runs 200m every day, she also goes to the gym and lifts weights so as to stay fit.

The great-grandmother began her journey as an athlete at the age of 93. She had no prior sporting experience before her son Gurdev Singh, also a sprinter, suggested she join him in competing on the international masters games circuit.

After a medical check-up, she was given the all-clear and since then the mother and son have taken part in dozens of masters athletics meets around the globe.

In April this year, she participated in the World Masters Games held in Auckland and won four gold medals in the 200 metre sprint, two kilogram shot put and 400-gram javelin in Auckland, taking her tally to 20.

She clocked one minute 14 seconds as a small crowd cheered her on – ending a mere 64.42 seconds off Usain Bolt’s 100 meter world record set in 2009.

But the granny says she has long way to go. "I’m going to run again, I’m not going to give up. I will participate, there’s no full stop," she vows.

(With inputs from AP)

Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim

(This article has been republished from The Quint’s archives on the occasion of Man Kaur winning a 200m race medal in the age group of 100 – 104 at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Malaga. The article was first published on 7 June.)