Dubbed the "Miracle from Chandigarh", Man Kaur, was an Indian track-and-field athlete. At the age of 101, she won the 100 meters sprint at the World Masters Games in Auckland. She completed the race in one minute 14 seconds and was the only athlete to compete in her age category.
She holds the world records in the Over-100 years old categories for a variety of events. She received the Nari Shakti Puraskar award from the Indian President at the age of 103.
Her height was approximately five feet (150 cm), and she spoke Punjabi natively. In the World Masters Athletics Championships, she won multiple gold medals.
When she was 93, she began to pursue athletics. Her son suggested her to compete on the international games circuit. The mother and son duo took part in dozens of masters athletics meets all around the globe. She won her first medal in 2007 at the Chandigarh Masters Athletics meet, in which she ran “for the heck of it” after seeing Gurdev, eldest of her three children, take part in a race in Patiala.
Her participation in the American Masters Games in 2016 made her the fastest centenarian ever. As part of her preparation for the 2017 World Masters Games, Kaur regularly trained at Punjabi University in the hopes of improving upon her world record that she had set over the years. Gurdev Singh, her 79-year-old son, was her coach. She completed the 100-meter sprint in 74 seconds in the 2017 games in Auckland, New Zealand.
In 2019, she competed in Poland and won four events in her category: shot put, 60m sprint, 200m, and javelin. Her 60m race was completed in 36 seconds, and she felt great afterward. She and Gurdev were invited to tour universities in Baru Sahib, where they were able to inspire students when they spoke about their achievements and the diet they follow. Their diet consists of nuts and pulses, homegrown soy milk, kefir, wheatgrass juice, and sprouted wheat that they turn into chapatis, according to their speeches. The secrets of her longevity and incredible fitness levels were a 20 kilometer run in the morning and a very healthy and simple diet.
In 2019, Kaur (age 103) won gold in the 200-meter dash at 3:01.61 and shot put at 2.21 m at the December 2019 Asian Masters Championship in Malaysia.
Man Kaur was conferred the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskar for her exceptional contribution toward women empowerment. On 8 March (International Women's Day) 2020. The award was given out by the President of India in New Delhi's Rashtrapati Bhavan, the country's Presidential Palace, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Suffering from gallbladder cancer for more than a decade, Man Kaur died on 31 July 2021 at the age of 105. Setting an example that age is just a number, Man Kaur is indeed an inspiration for many.