Sawang Janpram is not his first attempt: he has been assiduously following athletics training for eight years, which has already earned him seventy-eight medals, won during twenty-one competitions. The Thai has just won four gold medals at the World Masters Games in Taipei which took place in May 2025.
If this competition is dedicated to “senior” athletes, aged at least 25 years, Sawang Janpram is nevertheless in the upper range of competitors, since he has already celebrated his… one hundred and fifth candle this year.
It was at the age of 97 that the athlete decided to take up sport seriously, encouraged by his daughter, Siripan, now aged 73, herself a multi-medalist athlete who trains within the Thai Veterans Athletics Association.
Century-old routine
The centenarian’s routine begins at 5:30 a.m., with a breakfast of two hard-boiled eggs, protein, vegetables and fruit, which allows him to reach the beach or stadium near his home in Rayong province, Thailand, around 6 or 7 a.m. to begin his training.
Accompanied by his daughter, Sawang Janpram walks between one and two kilometers before running one or two sequences of one hundred meters fast, and continuing with the javelin, discus or weight throw. The athlete attributes his good health and performance to “regular physical activity, a healthy diet, a constant good mood, constant calm, an environment with healthy air and good hygiene”without forgetting household chores, like sweeping dead leaves from your garden.
His daily diet mainly consists of vegetables with nam prik pao (a chili paste), gaeng liang (a vegetable soup) and gaeng som (a fish curry with rice). He rarely eats meat.
If Sawang Janpram’s family may have had some concerns at the start of his new retired career, fearing that the travel required for competitions would tire him out, they now see that the athlete is doing quite well and knows how to take rest when he needs it. “If he gets sick or has to take medicine, he never persists”notes his daughter.
For Sawang Janpram, sport allows him to go out regularly, meet new people and strengthen his ties with his friends, in an aging society where more than 20% of the population is over 60 years old. And to record new exploits.
At the World Masters Games, he was the only one competing in his age category and ran the 100 meters in 38.55 seconds (in 2022, he recorded a time of 27.08 seconds at the Thailand Master Athletes Championship). From now on, Sawang Janpram and his daughter will prepare for the qualifications of the 23e championships Asia Masters Athletics.
