Challenging All Age Barriers, At 103 Man Kaur Clinches Gold In Shot Put

A 103-year-old Man Kaur clinched a gold medal in the shot put event of the World Masters Athletics Championships on Monday in Torun, Poland. Age is certainly no barrier for the determined athlete as she won the game with a best effort of 2.13 metres.

"I want to win more. I feel very happy after winning. The government has not given me anything, but it doesn't matter as I just want to win, because winning gives me happiness," Kaur told TOI after the game.

Ready For The Next Challenge

Kaur's next target is to break the world record, which is 2.77m, set by America's Julia Hockin in 2017. She is also prepping to participate in the javelin throw.

Past Achievements

Kaur won the gold medal in the 200m race in the 100-to-104 age group at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Malaga, Spain, last year. She also picked up a gold medal in the javelin competition there.

Chandigarh-based Kaur finished the 100-metre dash at the American Masters Games in Vancouver, and won the gold medal, clocking a time of a minute and 27 seconds in 2016. She was the only female competitor in her age category at the competition for older athletes, and that itself needs to be lauded.

Man has been running in many tournaments in the United States, Canada and Taiwan, picking up a number of gold medals. In 2017, she became the world’s fastest centenarian by breaking her own world record to clinch gold in 100m at the World Masters Games in Auckland, New Zealand. She completed the race in 1 minute and 14 seconds.

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How It Started

Kaur began running at age 93, encouraged by her son Gurdev Singh, who also is a participant in the Games."You have no problem, no knee problem, no heart problem, you should start running,” he told his ever-young mother, according to NDTV.

"I want to win more. I feel very happy after winning. The government has not given me anything, but it doesn't matter as I just want to win, because winning gives me happiness."

She has won more than 20 medals in Masters Games across the globe. She practices at her home in Chandigarh, goes out every evening to run five or ten short distances. Kaur believes in promoting running as a recreational activity, among other older women as well. “She encourages the old ladies that they should run, they should not eat the wrong food, and they should encourage their children also to take part in the Games,” elated Singh added.

“Before the start of the race we knew gold was hers, but our target was to improve the timing and she was able to do it and that’s a victory,” said Gurdev to Hindustan Times. “For the last few days she was in pain due to her bent spine, but she was so happy after completing the race that she forgot all about it.”

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And just in case you are wondering what her secret mantra is to a long life, Kaur credits it to a good diet and lots of exercise. Now there’s some food for thought!

Feature Image Credit:  Indiatimes.in

Read More Stories By Ria Das