Can Indian sprinter Man Kaur document her being 101 years old?
Flame away. But I’m just a tad skeptical about Man Kaur, the “101-year-old” star of the World Masters Games in Auckland. The other day she ran the 100 in 74.56 seconds, and New Zealand media dubbed her the “miracle from Chandigarh.” But Indian athletes have a history of inflating their ages. The most notorious is Dharam Pal Singh, whose claims of being 119 were busted by Jere Longman of The New York Times. Why am I doubtful? Because she doesn’t run in official masters meets, such as WMA. She appears to confine her efforts to masters games, where DOB verification may be lax. (Let’s see if her mark is submitted to WMA.) She’s also entered in the 200 and shot Wednesday., I’m writing the LOC and International Masters Games Association for age proof. Meantime, be aware that Ms. Kaur is far from the fastest W100 on record. WMA doesn’t list a W100 record for 100 meters. Neither does USATF. But we have W100 Ida Keeling running 100 at Penn (in 77.33) and W100 Ella Mae Colbert running 100 in 46.79 at a local track meet. So who is truly the oldest lady sprinter? Stay tuned.
16 Responses
101 I think I believe. If the claim was 112 or 115 or something like that, I would be highly doubtful.
Chris Gregory, media manager at the WMG, writes:
We checked her passport on collection of her accreditation. We are not able to provide you with a copy of her passport, however we can verify her age. I hope that helps. I will ask Karen Hinkley (Athletics Auckland) to confirm registration regarding World Masters Athletics.
Me again:
Meanwhile, I checked on India’s rules for issuing a passport. It calls for a birth certificate or some other material. It also can involve “an Affidavit sworn before a Magistrate/Notary stating date/place of birth.”
http://voiceof.india.com/check-list-of-documents-required-for-passport
Last year, Jere’s story on Singh said he had a passport showing 119. That proved to be bogus after investigation.
If WMG submits Man Kaur’s time to WMA for W100 record consideration, a passport may not cut it.
Ken,
No one here in Auckland is doubting her age. I remember photographing her in 2011 at the Sacramento WMA competition so it is untrue that she doesn’t compete in “official” WMA meets.
I would suggest that if a passport is good enough for everyone else, it should be good enough for those over 100 too.
Quick Silver
Hong Kong
Careless, Ken. She was in Sacramento in 2011. See
http://www.tomphillipsphotos.co.uk/wma20119july/slides/_TP21126wtmk.html
You were there yourself that day, as this shows:
http://www.tomphillipsphotos.co.uk/wma20119july/slides/_TP21368wtmk.html
😉
Tom
Her story made national media last night. That’s why I checked out this site.
how the hell can you consider 74sec for a 100M running?
Well I don’t know about the main subject of this article but that link to the lady from South Carolina was worth watching. Smokin!
Reference comment #7 … at 100, I hope to be on this side of the grass, let alone standing, or even moving forward.
Knowing how wrecked my body is at age 63, I am going to give a big amen to Tom’s comment.,
Perhaps a ‘new’ rule defining ‘running’ for athletes over a certain age?
For what it’s worth, I meet Man Kaur, just briefly, here in NZ. She is extremely frail…as would befit anyone age 101. Certainly does not seem to be a publicity hound! Physically I would compare her as quite similar to my late Philly Masters team mate, Champ Goldy, age 99. Champ’s wish, BTW, was to run the 100m age 100 at this weekend’s Penn Relays. Champ didn’t live to get his wish, but, I say, just let Man Kaur get hers, and move on from there.
I am interested to know what “a certain age”might be – not entirely kidding – who is to decide what is “running” and what is walking – for race walking the rules are clear – do we need special rules about what is “legitimate running”? I do not think that box of worms should be opened.
I spent some time with Ms. Kaur, her son and her interpreter yesterday, and they all seem like sweet, decent people. No “motives” that I can see. Man’s fondest dream was to hear the Indian national anthem as she accepted one of her Gold medals, but because there is a de-emphasis on “nationalism” here, no anthems are played when people receive their medals.
However, today it was touching that a group of Indian people sang the Indian national anthem a capella while Man accepted her Gold medal for the javelin. She and a number of other people were moved to tears.
Man Kaur’s 100m finish was #1 on ESPN Sports Center’s Top 10 Plays last night.
The word “running” already has a definition. You must have a flight phase of gait in which both feet are off the ground at the same time.
You could judge a race to see if the runner does so. Like reverse race-walking.
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