Man Kaur had clocked a timing of one minute and 14.58 seconds to become the oldest winner in the competition’s history. (FILE) Six-time world masters championship gold medallist and multiple Asian Masters Championship medallist athlete 105-year-d old Man Kaur breathed her last at a Dera Bassi Hospital near Mohali on Saturday afternoon. The Punjab athlete, who was diagnosed with gall bladder and liver cancers earlier this year, was undergoing treatment at a hospital in nearby Derabassi. Her son 83-year-old athlete Gurdev Singh confirmed Kaur’s death.
“Yes, she breathed her last at about 1.00 pm today. She had been suffering from liver and gall bladder cancers and we had been seeking treatment at the Dera Bassi hospital since the last one month. She had shown signs of recovery and was in good health till yesterday,” Kaur’s son Gurdev Singh confirmed to The Indian Express.
A native of Patiala, a young Man Kaur was one of the caretaker at the royal Patiala household of then Maharaja Bhupinder Singh and later Maharaja Yadavindra Singh, father of Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh. While her husband Ranjeet Singh was one of the khansama’s of the royal house, Kaur also took care of the children in the royal family.
Kaur and her husband shifted to Chandigarh in the 1960’s and it was not until the age of 93 that she started athletics. It was on the insistence of her son Gurdev Singh that Kaur started running and won her first medal in Chandigarh Masters Athletics meet in 2007 before she won the gold in 100 m as well 200 m race in the National Masters Athletics meet in 2011.
Hon’ble Governor Shri Bandaru Dattatreya has expressed grief over the death of legendary centenarian sprinter Smt. Man Kaur.
She will ever be reverred for her grit & urge for excellence.
Hon. Governor conveys his condolences to the bereaved family. May her soul rest in peace! pic.twitter.com/YCQ5Rocetd
— HARYANA RAJ BHAVAN (@RajBhavanHry) July 31, 2021
The same year, Kaur would become the 100 m and 200 m champion in the World Masters Athletics Championships in USA and was also adjudged as the best athlete. But it was her feat of becoming the champion in the 100 m in the 100+ category in the World Masters Athletics Championships in Auckland in 2017, which got her into limelight.
Kaur clocked a timing of one minute and 14.58 seconds to become the oldest winner in the competition’s history and would also win gold medals in the 200 m, shotput and javelin throw events at Auckland. The same week, Kaur became the oldest person to skywalk at Auckland’s sky tower.
In 2018, Kaur won the title in the 200 m race in the 100-104 year category in world masters championship in Spain before she won the gold medal in the shot put event in the next edition of the games in Poland in 2019. “I feel like reliving my life when I run and it is like going to work for me. My diet of fermented milk Kefir and rotis made from sprouted beans make me healthy even at this age. Jab tak zindagi hai daudhangi aur medals jeetungi,” Kaur had told The Indian Express in 2018.
Son Gurdev Singh would too always make sure that he was training along with Kaur every single day. “After she started running, there has been rarely a day when she has not trained. Sometimes, she would go to the Punjabi University athletics track even before me. Winning medals in various countries made her relive her youth,” Singh had said.
Post her competing in the Asian masters Championships in 2019, Kaur had stopped competing at international events but had been training and was hopeful of competing in last year’s world masters championship in Canada before it was cancelled due to the pandemic.
In 2017, Kaur was nominated along with five other international athletes for the Laureus best Sporting Moment of year 2018 competition. Last year in March, Kaur was also given the Nari Shakri Puraskar by President Ram Nath Kovind in New Delhi.
Post the lockdown, Kaur had been training at Patiala with her son Gurdev Singh before she came to Chandigarh. In March this year, Kaur had celebrated her 105th birthday at Chandigarh.
“While I used to prepare for marathons and other walk events and my schedule consisted of visiting multiple cities before the lockdown, I missed all such competitions and meeting young athletes and fans during lockdown. Inspiring young children and athletes also works as a tonic for me and missing all those these things made me feel like a fatigued person. So I would spend more time reciting Sukhmani Sahib path and meditate listening to religious scriptures, which helped us pass the months in lockdown,” Kaur has said in March this year.
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