LAHORE, Sept 9: The world's oldest-known Olympic medal winner, Pakistan's Feroze Khan, celebrated his 100th birthday on Thursday and said sportsmen with discipline could live longer.

"I am proud to be 100 and am going great. This is ample proof of the fact that discipline and individuals with sporting habits can live longer," Feroze said. Feroze, who won a field hockey gold medal for India in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, became the oldest living Olympic champion after the United States' James Rockefeller died last month.

Pakistan was carved out of India in August 1947 after independence from Britain. Rockefeller won a gold medal in rowing in the 1924 Paris Olympics and according to International Olympic Committee records was the oldest living Olympian, with Feroze in second spot.

Feroze said he felt honoured when Pakistan celebrated his centenary. Pakistan Television aired a 40-minute documentary on Wednesday night and leading newspapers carried interviews.

Feroze, who was born in Jalandhar in India, used a tree branch as his first hockey stick. India's hockey team was able to compete in the 1928 Olympics only after getting a loan from a private company, he recalled.

"En route to the hockey finals, we beat Austria 6-0, Belgium 9-0, Denmark 5-0 and Switzerland 6-0 in the semifinals to set up the title clash against Holland which we won 3-0," Feroze said.

The Olympian said he is saddened by the slump in Asian field hockey. "I saw some of the matches in the Athens Olympics and am sad at the steep decline." No Asian team qualified for the semifinals. Pakistan, the best of the Asian teams, finished only fifth.

"We, Pakistan and India, must watch videos of the past to learn the artistry of field hockey which is extinct now," Feroze said. Meanwhile, Feroze will have a hockey match between Pakistan and India dedicated to him.

"It is a matter of pride for us that we still have such a distinguished figure among us," PHF secretary Brig Musarrat Ullah said. "We have decided to celebrate his 100th birthday by dedicating the first Test of the hockey series on Sept 24 in Karachi after him." -Agencies