Chiba (Japan) (AFP)

At 88 years old, Hiromu Inada devours the Olympic Games.

This extraordinary Japanese triathlete is recording his favorite competitions on television in the hope of gleaning tips to improve his performance for the Ironman World Championships next year.

"I watch how the athletes use their legs on the bike, how to position the pelvis and the movement of the legs for running, and I compare with my way of doing things," Hiromu Inada told AFP after a training session. coaching.

"I am always discovering new things".

Due to the pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics, which end on Sunday, are taking place under very strict health rules, athletes being subject to permanent controls and the events being organized almost entirely behind closed doors.

He already holds the world record for the oldest person to complete an Ironman competition at the World Championships, a grueling format that involves swimming 3.86 kilometers, cycling 180.25 kilometers and running a marathon ( 42.195 km)!

- "My reason for being" -

Triple winner of this competition in his age category, his commitment is deep.

"The triathlon is my reason for being, the proof that I am alive" since the death of my wife.

"I only think about this".

This is the second time that Hiromu Inada has attended the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

In 1964, when the Japanese capital had already hosted the Olympics, he was a journalist for the public television channel NHK.

But the atmosphere was totally different then.

The 88-year-old Japanese triathlete Hiromu Inada at his home on August 2, 2021 in Inage (Japan) Yuki IWAMURA AFP / Archives

The event symbolized the triumphant return of Japan on the international scene, nearly twenty years after the end of World War II, and the country had then marked the spirits with its technological innovations, such as its high-speed shinkansen train.

"At the time, everyone watched the Olympics, but television was not in all homes, we got together to watch them together," recalls Mr. Inada.

His intense training program begins with swimming at 6 a.m., then cycling for hours.

Its diet consists mainly of fish, vegetables, miso soup, seaweed, and natto, a dish made from fermented soybeans.

He took up triathlon late in life, not learning to swim until he was 60 after retiring to care for his ailing wife.

"I thought I needed to exercise because I was always at home."

- "Happiness of living" -

He was 70 when he first entered a local triathlon competition, before discovering Ironman a few years later.

In 2012, at age 80, Mr. Inada first won the Ironman World Championships in his age category in Hawaii, clocking 15 hours, 38 minutes and 25 seconds.

88-year-old Japanese triathlete Hiromu Inada goes to swimming training on August 2, 2021 in Inage (Japan) Yuki IWAMURA AFP / Archives

Three years later, he tried his luck again, but tripped twice before the finish line and arrived five seconds too late, missing the time limit for the homologation of his time.

After this disappointment, "messages of encouragement poured into my Facebook account from foreign triathletes that I did not know."

He decided he had to try again and finish "even if I fell or had to crawl".

He finished the race the following year and again in 2018, becoming the dean of the Ironman, at 85 years and 328 days.

And he plans to compete again next year, at age 90.

"It makes everyone laugh, but I tend to say that I am living a second youth today. The simple fact of being in action makes me happy, it is a joy to live, all the more at my age".

The 88-year-old Japanese triathlete Hiromu Inada in training, August 4, 2021 near an Inage beach (Japan) Yuki IWAMURA AFP / Archives

For now, he is enjoying seeing the best sportsmen in the world in his country.

And he even managed to catch a glimpse of the Olympic road cycling event near Mount Fuji.

"It was exciting!"

© 2021 AFP