{"id":143116,"date":"2025-05-30T03:53:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T03:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/143116\/"},"modified":"2025-05-30T03:53:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T03:53:08","slug":"start-exercising-secrets-of-thailands-105-year-old-athletics-champion-thailand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/143116\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Start exercising!\u2019: secrets of Thailand\u2019s 105-year-old athletics champion | Thailand"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the 105-year-old Thai athlete Sawang Janpram, the day normally starts at 5.30am. He has a breakfast of two boiled eggs, some protein, vegetables and fruit, and by 6am or 7am he\u2019s out at the beach or local stadium near his home in Rayong province, training with his 73-year-old daughter Siripan.<\/p>\n

He will walk between 1km and 2km before doing a quick 100m run, once or twice. Then, he practises one of his other sports: javelin, discus or shot put.<\/p>\n

Sawang\u2019s training regime has proven effective \u2013 just last week, he won four golds at the World Masters Games in Taiwan. He was, media reports remarked, in a league of his own at the event \u2013 as the oldest competitor at the games and the only person in his age group, he was almost certain to win the men\u2019s 100-plus discus, javelin, shot put and 100m, which he completed in 38.55 seconds.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the secret to his longevity and success? \u201cRegular exercise, healthy food, staying in a good mood, always being calm, breathing clean air and keeping up good hygiene,\u201d he says. \u201cIf I\u2019m sick, I go to see the doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sawang has always loved sports, watching it on TV or at local competitions. \u201cI like to watch boxing, and my favourite is Pone Kingpetch,\u201d he says, referring to Thailand\u2019s first world boxing champion, who retired in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

It was not until Sawang turned 97 that he began competing. He was inspired by Siripan, an athlete with the Thai Veteran Athletics<\/a> Association, who would bring her father along to watch her compete at events. \u201cHe started to like the atmosphere because he could make new friends and see new people. He saw that even though the people involved were 60-, 70- or 75-year-old athletes, they were still able to participate,\u201d says Siripan.<\/p>\n

Sawang competed in the 100-plus age group at the World Masters Games in Taiwan, going on to win four gold medals. Photograph: I-Hwa Cheng\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

At first, Sawang\u2019s family worried that the travel required for competitions may be too tiring. But 21 games and 78 medals later, it has all gone well, Siripan says.<\/p>\n

There are days when he feels a bit lethargic, says Sawang with a laugh, but the sight of his daughter heading out normally spurs him on. \u201cIf I notice that he looks a bit tired, we just do walking, no jogging, or any other form of practice,\u201d says Siripan. Going outside, and being active, has benefits beyond physical fitness. \u201cI can see that he looks refreshed when he sees other people. It\u2019s only two of us in the house, and it\u2019s better to keep going out,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Sawang likes to eat vegetables and nam prik pao \u2013 a spicy dipping sauce made with chillies, shallots, garlic, dried shrimp and fish sauce \u2013 as well as gaeng liang, a vegetable soup, and gaeng som, a spicy and sour fish curry with rice. He rarely eats pork, and mostly sticks to vegetables and fish.
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Siripan explains that they eat healthily and that the air quality is good near to the beach where they exercise. Her father also keeps up a positive attitude, he adds. \u201cIf he gets sick or needs to take medicine, he\u2019s never stubborn about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She believes the main barrier preventing older people in Thailand from exercising is a lack of support. \u201cThey don\u2019t want to do it alone, and especially for elderly people, they need help and assistance,\u201d she says. Thailand is considered an ageing society, with 20% of the population more than 60 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cElderly people especially can get quite lonely at home \u2013 their children or relatives are out at work, so they stay home all day alone,\u201d she says. Exercise can \u201cmake them feel lively again\u201d.<\/p>\n

She hopes her father\u2019s success will inspire others. \u201cWhen I look at the comments on social media, I see a lot of positive responses. People are saying \u2018Grandpa is so great\u2019 and that they wanted to be fit as Grandpa,\u201d she says. \u201cI am very happy, and I\u2019m very proud of my dad \u2013 that he stays strong and he has the discipline to keep fit. I know that he doesn\u2019t want to be a burden to our family,\u201d says Siripan, who also won two gold medals and a silver in Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Both Sawang and Siripan plan to take a few days off after their success, but will get stuck into training again next week. They are already gearing up to qualify for the 23rd Asia Masters Athletics Championships, which will be held in India in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want everyone to start exercising so they will be strong and not getting sick,\u201d says Sawang. <\/strong>His advice to others who want to get fit? \u201cIf you go out to exercise with friends, you will get a chance to know them more \u2013 and it\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the 105-year-old Thai athlete Sawang Janpram, the day normally starts at 5.30am. He has a breakfast of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4322],"tags":[1630,105,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-143116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114594762103929511","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}