Key points
- Fauja’s biographer says “My Turbaned Tornado is no more”
- He ran full marathons (42 kilometre) till the age of 100
- Singh was a torchbearer for Olympics at Athens 2004 and London 2012
ISLAMABAD: Fauja Singh, believed to be the world’s oldest distance runner, has died in a road accident aged 114, his biographer said Tuesday.
AFP reported that Singh, an Indian-born British national, nicknamed the “Turbaned Tornado”, died after being hit by a vehicle in Punjab state’s Jalandhar district on Monday.
“My Turbaned Tornado is no more,” AFP cited Fauja’s biographer Khushwant Singh as saying.
“He was struck by an unidentified vehicle… in his village, Bias, while crossing the road”.
Singh did not have a birth certificate but his family said he was born on April 1, 1911.
Marathons at 100
He ran full marathons (42 kilometre) till the age of 100. His last race was a 10-kilometre (six-mile) event at the 2013 Hong Kong Marathon when 101, where he finished in one hour, 32 minutes and 28 seconds, AFP reported.
He became an international sensation after taking up distance running at the ripe old age of 89, after the death of his wife and one of his sons, inspired by seeing marathons on television.
Although widely regarded as the world’s oldest marathon runner, he was not certified by Guinness World Records as he could not prove his age, saying that birth certificates did not exist when he was born under British colonial rule.
Singh was a torchbearer for the Olympics at Athens 2004 and London 2012, and appeared in advertisements with sports stars such as David Beckham and Muhammad Ali.
