Still breaking records SHOT-PUT QUEEN TURNS 100

Barbara celebrated her milestone with another sporting legend

- Fleur Guthrie

Whenever Barbara Marks' daughter Helen takes her to a medical appointment, there's an inevitable line of questioning the pair have become familiar with. Staff will always remark that there must be a mistake with Barbara's year of birth, as it states 1923.

"I say, "That's correct," tells Helen. "Then they immediately ask Mum, 'What's your secret?' She always tells them, 'Everything in moderation. If I feel like a piece of chocolate, I have one!"

As the Weekly chats to her ahead of her 100th birthday, it's clear Barbara's long life has been underpinned by three things: family, faith and a love of sports.

Born on March 16, 1923, she's this country's oldest-surviving shot-put champion, who first broke the New Zealand shot-put record in 1940 (and held the record again in 1944 and 1945) as Barbara Lipscombe, before she married.

Growing up in the Auckland suburb of Onehunga, the aspiring athlete and her two brothers, Frank and Alan, were encouraged to try all disciplines.

"My dad's family were very sports-inclined," recalls Barbara. "And I suppose wanting to keep their children occupied and out of mischief, they organised a group of family and friends to form the Onehunga Amateur Athletic Club.

"The first time I picked up the shot put, I didn't even know how to stand properly to throw, but I was coordinated and it just came naturally."