He was nicknamed "Golden Bolt" and started sprinting in the early 90's: Hidekichi Miyazaki passed away on Wednesday at the age of 108. This was announced by a Japanese sports official from Miyazaki's homeland on Friday.
Miyazaki made it into the Guinness Book of Records three years ago with a 100-meter run in 42.22 seconds in his hometown Kyoto. For his age group, the class of over 105-year-olds, had previously had no record.
After the race, he had imitated the famous "lightning" pose of his great role model Usain Bolt and addressed a challenge to the Jamaican superstar. "I would like to take on him once," Miyazaki says with a wink.
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Japan: record sprinter Hidekichi MiyazakiThe eight-time Olympic champion Bolt, whose world record over 100 meters at 9.58 seconds stands, had paid Miyazaki respect for his performance: "Hats off to the 105-year-old Hidekichi Miyazaki," tweeted Bolt back then.
Miyazaki himself, however, had not been happy with his performance at the time. "I'm actually not happy with the time," he said immediately after the finish. "Tears came to my eyes during the race because I was so slow." Besides, he did not hear the starting signal right at the beginning. "It may be that I'm getting a little old."