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Thursday, 24th September 2015
In Japan Sports News,

World's oldest competitive sprinter sets record at 105

Hidekichi Miyazaki has just set a new record for the 100-metre race and at the age of 105, he is the oldest competitive sprinter in the world.

He completed the course in 42.22 seconds on Wednesday (September 23rd), when he set the bar in the over-105s category.

Mr Miyazaki, who has only reached the milestone age the day before, was not pleased with his performance, however.

He told AFP: "I'm not happy with the time. I started shedding tears during the race because I was going so slowly. Perhaps I'm getting old!"

In another interview he stated: "I wanted to shave off a few more seconds as I got 36 seconds while training."

No centenarian has ever beaten Mr Miyazaki's record of 34.10, which he set when he was 103.

In his entry into the Guinness Book of Records, Mr Myazaki's running career is described to have taken off in his 90s.

He was looking for an alternative pastime after many of the people he usually played the Japanese board game Go with had passed away.

Since then the sprightly elderly competitor has been given the nickname Golden Bolt, as he has taken up the habit of imitating Olympian Usain Bolt's famous lightning pose.

He has admitted that he would love to race the world's fastest man, but may be at a disadvantage, as he finds it difficult to hear the starting pistol.

Wearing his trademark red, Mr Myazaki completed the race to be congratulated by his grandchildren holding bouquets of flowers and a certificate from an official from the Guinness Book of Records.

When asked about the secret to his running success, Mr Myazaki cited exercising daily, eating in moderation and making sure he chews every mouthful of his food properly.

He is proud of his good health and said that doctors find him to be something of a medical marvel.

Mr Myazaki has lived through two world wars, having been born in 1910 and seems completely unfazed by anything.

"My brain might not be the sharpest but physically I'm tip-top. I've never had any health problems. The doctors are amazed by me. I can definitely keep on running for another two or three years," he told AFP.

Living to be over 100 years old is not so unusual in Japan, as a recent report from the Ministry of Internal Affairs showed some 60,000 centenarians help make up the country's population.

Mr Myazaki, who can be seen walking around his local park in Kyoto with a kilogram weight in his rucksack, has no plans to retire just yet, as he says he wants to continue in order to keep his fans happy.