100-yr-old best advert for sport - worst for veges

Ruth Frith, 100, holds world records in all her over-100 events, despite not eating vegetables. Photo / Getty Images

SYDNEY - Ruth Frith, 100, is an Aussie Masters marvel who acquired even more gold yesterday but still no green to go with it.

She is the world's best advertisement for elderly sport but the worst for vegetables.

She doesn't eat them, for much the same reason as former US President George W. Bush spurned broccoli - she doesn't like them.

But it hasn't stopped her athletics success.

The Brisbane great grandmother followed up her shot put gold at the World Masters Games with victory in her weight throw event, which is similar to a hammer throw.

As one of only two centenarians at the Games, and the only one competing in her sport, she couldn't lose.

But she holds all the world records in her over-100 events in any case.

"Winning is not as important as competing for yourself," she said later.

"This medal will just go in the drawer with all the others."

Elite athletes were also busy filling their drawers with gold.

Chris Fydler, 36, won a 400m individual gold medal in the same pool where he won a relay gold at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Fydler was a member of the Australian team which inflicted America's first-ever defeat in the Olympic men's 100m freestyle, then famously played air guitars to mock American Gary Hall's taunt that the Aussies would be "smashed like guitars".

He was dressed to kill on Monday, wearing one of the latest high-tech swim suits and vowing to keep using it until the day they are outlawed.

Fydler is among the youngest of more than 200 Olympians competing at Sydney's Masters Games.

The oldest won a gold medal, too.

Canadian Noel Morrow, 90, who swam at Hitler's Berlin Olympics in 1936, won her 100m backstroke category in a time of 2m 34s.

"I wasn't sure I would even complete the race, but I got there in the end," she said.

Swimming at the same time, but as the only competitor in the highest age category, was 99-year-old Margot Bates from Adelaide.

She took more than three minutes longer to finish but received an almighty cheer from the crowd, and went home with an automatic gold medal for her exertions, too.

"I'm fit as a fiddle, any fitter I would be dangerous," she said.

"A lot of people my age are either in hospitals or nursing homes."

At the touch football tournament, former rugby league hardman Mark Geyer came up with a novel explanation for why he wants to maintain his fitness.

The 41-year-old former Penrith prop's team, MG's Maulers, were beaten 8-3, but he revealed he wanted to stay active until his three young daughters are old enough to discover boys.

"When a knock on the door comes one day, I want to make sure I'm big enough, fit enough and ugly enough to say 'sorry mate, bye'," he said.

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, meanwhile, toured Games sites ahead of his first appearance on Tuesday as a Tasar sailor on Sydney harbour.

- AAP