The ultimate masters record: Who’s the oldest athlete?
Today’s news that a 116-year-old lady in Ecuador is the oldest human makes me wonder: Who’s the oldest track athlete now? Until April 2005, it was John Whittemore of suburban Santa Barbara, California (who at 104 was still a thrower). But M100s are exceedingly rare, and we haven’t seen an M105 age-grouper yet.
Of course, the M100 age group is the oldest that WMA recognizes. It’s been only the past couple years that an M100 age group existed. Until then, M95 was the oldest group — meaning 104-year-olds theoretically had to compete against 95-year-olds. Shocking!
Right now, I imagine 101-year-old South African sprinter Philip Rabinowitz is a good bet for oldest tracko. He turns 102 in February.
A former candidate for world’s oldest athlete may have been a fraud, however. I refer to Joginder Singh of India, who competed in some world masters meets but later had his records stricken from the books. (Scroll down to see Singh note.)
The oldest bowler, we find, may be Sam Tate of Texas. He’s 103. Just a kid.
Now if we can only get that 116-year-old lady in South America to lace on some spikes.
Now