Despite taking a break for more than 20 years, 100-year-old athlete Lester Wright still has what it takes to not just run in a track and field event but also create a world record!
👴🏼 İkinci Dünya Savaşı gazisi ve 100 yaşındaki Lester Wright, 100 metreyi 26.34 koşarak dünya rekoru kırdı.
🎽 Lester Wright: "İkinci olmak için koşmuyorum."pic.twitter.com/3y600sV9Qi
— Fotomaç (@fotomac) May 3, 2022
Wright who is from New Jersey was competing in the Penn Relays – America’s oldest track and field meet. The centenarian raced in the “Event 590” race for “Masters Men's 100m dash 80 and older” against eight other senior athletes and though came seventh out of nine, he impressed and awed the spectators who gave him a standing ovation for the superb timing.
Surging over the finishing line, Wright clocked 26.34 seconds, breaking Donald Pellmann's mark of 26.99 set in 2015, setting a record for centenarians! He holds the honour of breaking the 200-metre world record for over 75s when he was 76-years-old.
Talking to Fox 29 before the event, Wright who turned 100 recently, said: “If you're going to go out to run a race, you should really run the race to try to win. I don't know how you can run to be second or third.”
The grand old man’s athletic career according to The Guardian has lasted for more than 80 years as he started running sprints in the 1930s. Following the World War II, he was forced to abandon as he joined the service, earning four Bronze Battle Stars.
After the war, he started the first dental lab in New Jersey by an African-American and made prosthetic teeth. At 30, he started running seriously again and has been competing since.
Also read: 66-year-old man from Karnataka creates record by swimming wearing handcuffs and leg shackles
