Ida Keeling at 97 becomes oldest American female sprinter

Ida during her record run.

Ida Keeling faced a 2.3 meter per second headwind and opponents young enough to be her great grandchildren. Her time in the 100-meter dash at the USATF Eastern Regional Open Championships was 51.85. But I’ll take any time at 97. Ida thus became the owner of the W95 American record. The listed WR is 35.48 by Katsuko Iwaki of Japan. The meet was held on the same NYC track where Tyson Gay ran 10.00 over the weekend (also into a wind). Let’s see Tyson crack 52 when he’s Ida’s age, in 2080. Rob Jerome, who took the photo at left, writes that Ida “ran … no walking in the middle of the race. … Ida’s exploits were covered by Broadcaster Lisa Ling of “Our America with Lisa Ling”, which is shown Sunday nights at 10 on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Some nice publicity for Masters.”

Rob also writes:

Former M40 World High Jump Champion Karl Hawke, who is now 46, won two medals for the same event. He completed the Open High Jump with a height of 180. He got the Gold for New York State and the Silver for the East Region. The field was small, but it did include jumpers who were less than half Karl’s age. Always nice to see a Master show the young’uns how it’s done.

Karl is a kite in this shot by Rob Jerome at Randall's Island track meet.

2012 USATF East Regional Championships – 6/10/2012
Hosted by USA Track & Field New York
Icahn Stadium @ Randall’s Island Park

Event 10 Women 100 Meter Dash
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Name Year Team Prelims
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Heat 1 Preliminaries Wind: -2.3
1 Khan, Miriam Shore Athletic Club 12.32q
2 McCant, Genamarie Unattached 12.73q
3 Taylor, Dacia Greater Bost 12.77q
4 Awidi, Lillian Unattached 14.47
5 Keeling, Ida Unattached 51.85
Heat 2 Preliminaries Wind: -1.4
1 Edwards, Samantha Virginia Sta 12.26q
2 Padilla, Antoinette Central Park 12.82q
3 Doriscat, Prisna Dare 2 Dream 13.34q
4 Greenfield-Webster, Ruth Unattached 14.22q
5 Hargrove, Toccara Unattached 14.27q
6 Edwards, Deaneth Unattached 14.30q
7 Warren, Sharon Unattached 15.02
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Name Year Team Prelims Wind
==============================================
Preliminaries
1 Edwards, Samantha Virginia Sta 12.26q -1.4
2 Khan, Miriam Shore Athletic Club 12.32q -2.3
3 McCant, Genamarie Unattached 12.73q -2.3
4 Taylor, Dacia Greater Bost 12.77q -2.3
5 Padilla, Antoinette Central Park 12.82q -1.4
6 Doriscat, Prisna Dare 2 Dream 13.34q -1.4
7 Greenfield-Webster, Ruth Unattached 14.22q -1.4
8 Hargrove, Toccara Unattached 14.27q -1.4
9 Edwards, Deaneth Unattached 14.30q -1.4
10 Awidi, Lillian Unattached 14.47 -2.3
11 Warren, Sharon Unattached 15.02 -1.4
12 Keeling, Ida Unattached 51.85 -2.3