105 year-old woman shatters age group 100m record, this is further proof that age is just a number

Last week at the National Open Masters Athletics Championship in Vadodara, India, a 105-year-old woman made history, breaking the 105+ 100 metre world record in 45.40 seconds.

Born in 1917, Rambai began running competitively at age 104, and took part in the above-100 category, however, she ended up running the race alone, due to the lack of competitors in her age category. She has already acquired the nickname ‘Granny Bolt’ from local media. 

She not only broke the Indian 100+ national record set by 101-year-old Maan Kau in 2017 (74 seconds), but she also smashed Julia ‘Hurricane’ Hawkins world 105+ record of 62 seconds.

Outside of the 100m, she collected three more gold medals at the National Masters Athletics Championship conducted by the Athletics Federation of India. Rambai has dreams of competing internationally one day but does not have a passport.

According to the India Times, Rambai’s granddaughter, Sharmila, said that the centurion is careful about what she eats each day. “She consumes a lot of ghee and curd daily.” She tries to get outside for three to four kilometres of exercise every day.

Who knows if we will one day see a 100m race between the two greats, Hawkins and Rambai.

posted Monday July 4th
by Marley Dickinson