This 87-Year-Old Triathlete Just Became the Oldest Man to Finish the Ironman World Championship
Hiromu Inada, aged 87, has won a Guinness World Record for being the oldest person to complete the Ironman World Championship. Hiromu was 85-years and 328 days old when he ran the 2018 Ironman in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii on 13 October 2018.
The Ironman course consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 run. Hiromu, originally from Japan, completed the race in 16 hours, 53 minutes and 49 seconds.
Congratulations to Hiromu Inada who have achieved a new @GWR title for oldest person to complete the IRONMAN® World Championship!! We are proud of you and the achievement👏 https://t.co/e8WhIsPxeD@IRONMANtri @worldtriathlon
Triathlon Japan NEWS📰https://t.co/QloIW9pXhB pic.twitter.com/XDWOjufYVS— Triathlon Japan /日本トライアスロン連合 (@Japan_Triathlon) July 30, 2020
Speaking to Japan Times after the race, Hiromu said, "It’s an extremely tough race for an old man like me. But there’s a part of me that wants to challenge myself and see how long I can keep competing. And if there are people rooting for me, then I think it’s my obligation to meet their expectations."
Hiromu, who is a retired TV reporter, has taken part in his age group race at the annual World Championships for the past eight years. He has completed the race three times, setting a record for the oldest finisher in 2016, before rewriting it in 2018.
A post shared by IRONMAN Triathlon (@ironmantri) on Jul 30, 2020 at 6:17am PDT
In a further statement to the Japan Triathlon Union last week, Hiromu said, "I think I was only able to finish the race because of the support from all over the world. I don’t think about the limit of 'how old'." His coach, Kiyomi Niwata, said "I hope [he] will continue to play an active role in the next category (90 years and over)."
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