Kyoto, September 23

A fleet-footed Japanese centenarian raced into the Guinness World Records reference book today and declared himself a “medical marvel” as he continues to stalk sprint king Usain Bolt.

Hidekichi Miyazaki, dubbed “Golden Bolt” after the fastest man on the planet, clocked 42.22 seconds in Kyoto to set a 100 metres world record in the over-105 age category — one for which no mark previously existed — a day after reaching the milestone age. “I’m not happy with the time,” the pint-sized Miyazaki told AFP in an interview after recovering his wind. “I started shedding tears during the race because I was going so slowly. Perhaps I’m getting old!”

Indeed, so leisurely was his pace that Bolt could have run his world record of 9.58 four times, or practically completed a 400 metres race — a fact not lost on Miyazaki.

“I’m still a beginner, you know,” he said, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ll have to train harder. Training was going splendidly, so I had set myself a target of 35 seconds. I can still go faster,” he said.

Dressed in his trademark red, tight shorts hiked alarmingly high, Miyazaki got off to a wobbly start before finding a gentle rhythm and trotting across the finish line to loud cheers, greeted by his great-grandchildren carrying bouquets. Cheekily, he celebrated by striking Bolt’s famous “lightning” pose before being presented with a certificate from Guinness officials.

Asked about Bolt’s latest heroics at last month’s athletics world championships in Beijing, Miyazaki screwed up his nose and said with a chuckle: “He hasn’t raced me yet!”

The twinkle-toed Miyazaki, who holds the 100 metres world record for centenarians at 29.83 seconds, insisted there was still time for a dream race against the giant Jamaican.

“I would still love to compete against him,” said Miyazaki, who loses valuable seconds because he cannot hear the starter’s gun go off. “Two or three years ago Bolt came to Japan and said he wanted to meet me. There was a call about it but I was out and he left without meeting me. I felt deeply sorry.”

Miyazaki, who was born in 1910 — the year Japan annexed Korea and when the Titanic was still being built — only took up running in his early 90s and prepares for races by taking a sneaky catnap. He stands just 1.53 metres tall and weighs in at 42 kilograms.