Veteran sprinter Mann Kaur passes away at 105 after battling liver cancer

Centenarian sprinter and veteran athlete Mann Kaur passed away at the age of 105 at a hospital in Mohali on Saturday after battling liver cancer. The internationally acclaimed athlete from Punjab suffered a cardiac arrest at the Shudhi Ayurvedic Hospital Dera Bassi at around 1 PM after which she could not be revived. Mann Kaur had been bed-ridden since early 2021 after she was diagnosed with gall bladder and liver cancer in February. Since an operation for her liver cancer was not an option given her age, her health was basically being monitored by diet and homeopathy.

Her 82-year-old son and veteran athlete Gurdev Singh confirmed the news and told ANI that her health had deteriorated last month. She will be cremated on Sunday.

"Veteran athlete Man Kaur is dead and will be cremated tomorrow. She was admitted in Shudhi Ayurvedic Hospital Derabassi in district Mohali and was declared dead at 1 pm," son Gurdev Singh told ANI. "Her health deteriorated last month. She was home before that. Doctors did well but the cancer had spread," he added.

About Mann Kaur

Mann Kaur known as the 'Miracle from Chandigarh' had become one of the first faces of the Fit India movement after she took up sprinting at the age of 93. Born on March 1, 1916, she won her first medal at the Chandigarh Masters Athletics meet 2007, in which she took part after developing an interest in the sport upon seeing her son Gurdev race in Patiala. 

Her biggest performances to date had been her victory at the 100-meter sprint at the World Masters Games in Auckland in 2017 and her exploits at the World Masters Athletics Championships in 2019. Here, she swept four events — shot put, 60m sprint, 200m race, and javelin throw in her category and the same year, also won the gold in the 200m dash and shot put at the Asian Masters Championship in Malaysia. 

She is a record-holder for doing a  skywalk at the Sky Tower (192 meters in height) in Auckland at the age of 102 along with her son who held her hand during the event. In 2019, she became associated with PM Modi's Fit India movement and had been a part of the veteran invitees during its launch.