AGE really is just a number when it comes to incredible feats of endurance.
Kokichi Akuzawa entered the record books this week when he climbed Mount Fuji at the age of 102.
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And he’s not the only pensioner going strong.
Ernestine Shepherd is still an active bodybuilder at the age of 89.
She began training when she was 71, and won her first competition that year.
Three years later, the Guinness World Records certified Ernestine, from Baltimore, as the oldest competitive female bodybuilder.
Read More on WORLD RECORDS
From marathon runners to swimmers and footballers, here Amy Jones reveals more old-timers who haven’t let age hold them back.
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KNOWN as the Iron Nun, Sister Madonna Buder, 95, began running at 48 and completed her first Ironman Triathlon at 52.
Born in St Louis, Missouri, she has competed in around 400 triathlons and holds the world record for the oldest person to complete an Ironman challenge.
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DIANA NYAD, 76, became the first person to swim the 110 miles from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage in 2013.
The New Yorker, who also swam around Manhattan in seven hours and 57 minutes in 1975, describes marathon swimming as a battle for survival against a brutal foe.
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FRENCH cyclist Robert Marchand set a world record in 2017 for one hour of track cycling in the over-105 age group, completing 22.5km (14 miles).
The former prisoner of war, who died aged 109 in 2021, said at the time: “I could have done better.”
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TENNIS duo Zovita Moon and Liz Simmons were 89 and 87 when they reached the doubles final at Wimbledon in 2023.
The pair, from Surrey, expected to compete in the heats, but were fast-tracked straight to the over-85s finals.
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GERMAN gymnast Johanna Quaas, 99, began her gymnastics journey in 1935 but had to quit during the war for a year of mandatory social service.
She continued to compete until 2018 and was German Senior Gymnastics Champion 11 times.
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IN 2022, Aussie David Mudge was crowned the oldest competitive football player when he turned out for Kissing Point FC, aged 79.
Players from both sides cheered him and David joked: “I want to thank my teammates for putting up with me.”
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PROUD Pole Stanislaw Kowalski was known for his sprinting, shot put and discus abilities.
At 104, he became the oldest person in Europe to run a 100-metre dash, clocking a time of 32.79 seconds.
He died aged 111 in 2022.
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INDIAN-born Fauja Singh was the oldest marathon runner in the world, completing his first race at 89 and continuing well into his 100s.
Dubbed the Turbaned Tornado, Fauja moved to Ilford, East London, in the 1990s and took up running.
When he first turned up for training in Redbridge, Essex, he was dressed in a three-piece suit.
His personal best time for the London Marathon was 6hr 2min in 2003.
He was believed to be 114 when he died in Punjab in a hit and run incident in July.
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LONDON-born Ed Whitlock became the first person aged over 70 to complete a marathon in under three hours in 2003.
At 73, he set a world record for men aged 70 to 74, running the race in 2hr 54min 48sec. He died in 2017 aged 86.
