The lifelong exerciser said, “running stays till my last breath”, after clocking 32.4 seconds in a mixed race against other men who were over 75 years old.
By chance, Pushpanathan ran the race at the very track at the Universiti Malaya Arena Sports Science Stadium that he, as a technical official many years ago, inspected and certified under World Athletics rules.
Representing Perak Masters, he was the oldest athlete at the meeting, the 34th in the series that brought together veteran athletes who displayed bottomless reserves of energy.
At 4.30pm, the gun went off for the start of the men’s 100m in the most senior age group for competitors aged 75 and up. Pushpanathan, running in lane eight, was the only runner over 90.
Inevitably, the focus was on the turbo grandfather, who with an army of cameras trained on him, charged toward the finish line.
His sprint style of the wide swing of his arms drew the applause of the crowd as he finished fourth out of six in the race but first in his age group.
The runner who finished last is in his seventies and clocked close to 45 seconds.
The championships might not have been held in the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the lean Pushpanathan has stayed in shape.
Standing at 1.7m tall and weighing 53kg, the nonagenarian sprinter achieved health, wellness and athletic longevity by doing a daily 2km run – jogging and sprinting – and yoga on alternate days to build strength.
“Sport has made me strong and helped me to eat well,” said Pushpanathan whose wife, Mangleswary is 90. They have a daughter, Shanti and two grandchildren.
Vickram Ragunath said his family was excited that his grandfather had positive thoughts and was in good mental and physical condition.
“As the oldest competitive sprinter, he has proven exercise is good for the body and age is nothing but a number,” said Vickram who recorded every step of his grandfather’s run with his camera.
Perak Masters patron Danny Sritharan described Pushpanathan’s performance as “amazing and moving”.
He said: “We salute him and may we all be as athletic as him in our 90s, if we even get to live that long”.
Pushpanathan made his debut in the Malaysian Open Masters in 2018 and won the silver in the 400m.
The former English language teacher, whose last posting was at SM Raja Chulan in Ipoh (1976-1982), was a middle-distance runner in his younger days and got involved in athletics in 1957.
In his early years, he focused on junior development and formed the Swifts Athletics Club in Ipoh with another devoted track master, Suppiah Ramalingam, who trained some of the finest national athletes.
While Pushpanathan laid the foundation for M Rajamani, a former track queen and Malaysia’s first sportswoman of the year, Suppiah helped her qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in 180 days.
Pushpanathan went on to stamp his mark as a track and field technical officer at state, national and international competitions.
Since FMT featured his electrifying verve in April, Pushpanathan has been an inspiration to many and last Thursday he addressed members of the Rotary Club of Damansara on how he challenges himself, aims high and keeps his internal flame alight with an aura of age-defying spirit.