LONDON, July 15 (Bernama-PA Media/dpa) — British marathon runner Fauja Singh has died in a road accident in Punjab, India, aged 114, PA Media/dpa reported.
The athlete believed to be the oldest runner to complete a marathon was hit by a car and suffered fatal injuries while trying to cross a road in his birth village Beas Pind, near Jalandhar in Punjab, on Monday, according to reports in India.
His London-based running club and charity, Sikhs In The City, confirmed his death and said their upcoming events in Ilford, east London, will be a celebration of his life and achievements.
Singh, who lived in Ilford from 1992, made his name by beating several records for marathon times in multiple age brackets.
The centenarian became an inspiration for countless athletes by running marathons past the age of 100.
A profile on the Olympics website said Singh was born in Punjab, then under British rule, on April 1, 1911, and was the youngest of four children in a farming family.
He was said to have suffered from thin and weak legs, and was unable to walk until he was five years old.
He moved to England and settled in east London with his son after the death of his wife Gian Kaur in Jalandhar.
It was not until 2000, aged 89, that he took up running, quickly rising to fame by completing his maiden marathon in London in six hours and 54 minutes. The time knocked 58 minutes off the previous world’s best in the 90-plus age bracket.
Singh ran numerous marathons, completing the 2003 Toronto Waterfront Marathon in five hours and 40 minutes, his personal best.
On October 16 2011, in Toronto, the runner is thought to have become the first centenarian to run a marathon.
He was a torchbearer for the London 2012 Olympics and retired at the age of 101.
— BERNAMA-dpa