VOA新闻杂志2022--102岁老人打破泰国第 26 届锦标赛该年龄段百米短跑纪录

102-year-old Man Breaks Thai’s 100-meter Record

It takes Thai athlete Sawang Janpram 27.08 seconds to run 100 meters. That's not bad, given he is 102 years old.

People know Sawang as the oldest sprinter² in Thailand. He has run four times in the yearly³ Thailand Master Athletes Championships.

At the championship last weekend in the southwestern Samut Songkhram province, he won all the gold medals in the 100-105 years category⁴. That is because he has lived longer than any other competitors⁵ in that age range.

"Getting into sports made me strong and well. As well as this, exercising helps improve your appetite⁶ so you eat well too," Sawang says when asked about the secret to his long life.

Sawang walks with his 70-year-old daughter, Siripan, every day. He does simple jobs around the house like cleaning the fallen leaves in their garden.

But the 102-year-old became more active as he prepared for the games. He trained two times a day for a week at a local sports center with his daughter.

"My father always has positive thoughts ... so he is in a great mental health condition. In terms of physical health, he has gotten much stronger," Siripan says.

The training helped. Sawang's time for the 100-meter sprint¹ this year was his fastest ever. It is a new Thai record for his age group.

Usain Bolt⁷, who holds the only current⁸ world record, ran 100 meters in 9.58 seconds in 2009.

As Thailand's society ages, the number of competitors in the senior⁹ category has grown, says Viwat Vigrantanoros. He is president of Asia Masters Athletics¹⁰.

When the Thailand Master Athletes Championships started in 1996, there were only about 300 competitors. Today, there are over 2,000 from 35 to 102 years of age.

"As you can see, everybody who's here to compete has all forgotten about their ages. Once they forget about their ages, they are happy," Viwat said.

Words in This Story

athlete – n. a person who does any kind of physical sports, exercise, or games, especially in competitions

sprinter – n. a person who takes part in short, fast races.

appetite – n. desire to eat

1 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

2 sprinter   

n.短跑运动员，短距离全速奔跑者

参考例句：

• He is more a sprinter than a swimmer. 他是短跑健将，而不是游泳选手。 来自辞典例句
• The sprinter himself thinks he can run the race at 9.4 seconds. 这位短跑运动员自认为可以用9.4秒跑完比赛。 来自互联网

3 yearly   

adj.每年的，一年一度的；adv.一年一次地

参考例句：

• The flower show is a yearly event in our town.我们镇上的花展一年举行一次。
• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。

4 category   

n.种类；类别；范畴

参考例句：

• These questions may be included in the same category.这些问题可以归入一类。
• Class the books in this category.按目录把书分类。

5 competitors   

竞争者( competitor的名词复数 )； 对手； 参赛者； 竞赛者

参考例句：

• We are now outselling all our competitors. 我们现在比所有竞争对手都卖得多。
• We are lagging far behind our European competitors in using new technology. 我们在使用新技术方面远远落后于我们的欧洲对手。

6 appetite   

n.食欲，胃口；欲望，性欲；爱好，趣味

参考例句：

• The baby has a good appetite.这个婴儿食欲很好。
• She feels pretty well,but she hasn't much of an appetite.她精神还不错，不过胃口不太好。

7 bolt   

n.螺栓；插销；vt.闩，栓住；vi.冲出去，逃跑

参考例句：

• It is a bad habit to bolt your food.狼吞虎咽地吃东西是个不良习惯。
• That door refuses to bolt.那扇门关不牢。

8 current   

n.涌流，趋势，电流，水流，气流；adj.当前的，通用的，流通的，现在的，草写的，最近的

参考例句：

• Electric current is often powerful enough to kill a man.电流常强得足以致命。
• There is a story about her in the current number.最近一期上有关于她的故事。

9 senior   

adj.年长的；资格较老的，地位较高的；n.年长者，前辈；大学高年级学生

参考例句：

• My brother is senior to me by two years.我哥哥比我年长两岁。
• They are senior students.他们是高年级学生。

10 athletics   

n.运动，体育，田径运动

参考例句：

• When I was at school I was always hopeless at athletics.我上学的时候体育十分糟糕。
• Our team tied with theirs in athletics.在田径比赛中，我们队与他们队旗鼓相当。