Video: London Olympics 2012: 'I have never thought of myself as old' says 100-year-old torchbearer What does it mean to me? A real achievement!," she exclaimed, "I do walk with a stick but I can walk without it ... If I can do that holding the torch, that's fantastic. Born in Poland, Mrs Gould came to London as an infant. She was raised in the East End and then moved to Stoke Newington with her husband Ted before the Second World War, before settling in Hendon in 1960. She played badminton and table-tennis until she was 86 and puts the maintenance of her sprightly mental and physical condition down to keeping her mind and body active. The nonogenerian teaches exercise to elderly people much younger than her in order to "teach them to be mobile" and feeds her mind with crossword puzzles and knitting. But apart from all the activity, Mrs Gould, who celebrates her centenary on May 23, it appears the secret to remaining youthful lies in your attitude to age. First of all I don't think I'm old. I might be a 100 in numbers but I'm not old, I have never thought of myself as old," Mrs Gould declared.