India's 101-Yr-Old Sprinter Mann Kaur To Compete In World Masters Games

The only 101-year-old fastest woman in the world, Mann Kaur from Chandigarh, is all set to participate in the World Master Games. The tournament, which is considered the Olympics for veterans, is going to start from April 21 in Auckland.

Mann was 93 years old when her son Gurdev -- who is currently 79 years old -- took her to the ground and saw that surprisingly, she could run 400m without any difficulty. Since then, Mann has been running in many tournaments and winning as well. She has competed in the United States, Canada, and Taiwan, picking up a number of gold medals. It was in the American Masters Games in Vancouver last year that she became the world’s fastest centenarian.

Her son will also be competing in the World Masters Games.

Kaur will participate in the 100m, 200m, shot put, and javelin at this year's World Masters Games. She is the only contestant in her age bracket of over 100 years, so she will definitely win gold medals in all four games after completing them

Although, she is fit for most part, Kaur has been diagnosed with osteoporosis in her back. Yet, she manages to run around the track. She completed the 100m American Masters in August in a brisk time of one minute 23 seconds; however, her personal best is one minute 10 seconds.

Her son says that it is all because of her balanced diet and clear mind that she is able to perform well even at this age.

"She's eating good food and training and there's no ill will against anyone, so her mind is very good," he told Stuff.

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"She inspires everyone. There are so many people in India, they're writing every time on Facebook about how she is doing.”

"When she finishes a race or event so many people like her, so many people want to have a photograph with her, so that's good for her."

For training purpose, the mother-son duo had to shift from Chandigarh to Patiala for better access to stadium, gym etc. “In Chandigarh, the stadium is a little far away from our place, and because of her age, I was finding it difficult to take my mother to the stadium daily. So we had to shift our base to Patiala,” Gurdev told Hindustan Times.

“In Patiala, we also got access to the gym. It helped my mother reduce 10 seconds in 100m. Now she is clocking 1 minute, 10 seconds. If all goes well, we will further reduce the timing by four-five seconds,” he added.

He is a Canadian passport holder who will represent his adopted country in the Games. He has participated in the tournament before, with the best performance of fourth place in 200m in 2005 and 2009.

This is the first time that Kaur will be in New Zealand but she won’t get enough time to visit places as she is flying back to India right after her events are over.

Picture credit- Free Press Journal