China reportedly denied visa to a 101-year-old Indian runner Mann Kaur — who is also known as the "miracle from Chandigarh" — to participate in the Asian Masters Athletics Championships.
The centenarian, who won a gold in 100 metres at the World Masters Games in Auckland in April, had been preparing hard for the upcoming competition in China.
"I was planning to participate in the tournament and had applied for a visa. But the embassy rejected my application citing the reason that I don't have an official invite. I explained that my name is enrolled there, you can check it, but still they denied me the visa," Kaur told ANI.
The gold-medallist also said she was confident of her victory in the Asian Masters Athletics Championships, but she would not be able to make it to the venue now.
"I felt very bad when my visa was rejected. Wherever we used to go we would come back winners and even this time around I was confident of victory," Kaur was quoted as saying by AFP.
The athlete however seemed resilient and said it was not the end of the road for her and that she would continue to train and participate in sports events.
Kaur began her journey as an athlete at the age of 93.
She was training to compete in the 100m, 200m, shot put and javelin categories in the China Masters in Rugao, according to reports.
Spreading her contagious enthusiasm, here's Mann Kaur, who won Gold at the Masters Games at 101 years! @PinkathonIndia @rajcheerfull pic.twitter.com/4IjZjeHFs2
— COLORS (@ColorsTV) September 17, 2017
Reports state that the 101-year-old is one of the nominees for the coveted Laureus World Sports Awards 2017 in the new category "Best Sporting Moment of the Year."
