(Reuters) -Fauja Singh, regarded as the oldest person and the first centenarian to complete a full marathon, has died at the age of 114 after he was struck by a vehicle near his village in Punjab, India, media reports said.
Singh, who claimed to be born in 1911, completed the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2011, when he was 100. He had registered his best time in a full marathon at the same event in 2003, finishing the race in five hours and 40 minutes.
He was not inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records due to the lack of a birth certificate, as birth records were not kept in India in 1911, media reports said in 2011.
“My ‘Turbaned Tornado’ is no more,” Singh’s biographer Khushwant Singh posted on X on Monday.
“He was struck by an unidentified vehicle around 3:30 PM today in his village, Bias, while crossing the road. Rest in peace, my dear Fauja.”
Efforts were underway to identify the vehicle, which fled the scene, police told local media.
An amateur runner in his youth, Singh later settled in London, where he began running competitively at 89. He ran several full marathons and also competed in 10 km races before retiring in 2013.
“He was an exceptional athlete with incredible determination. Pained by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family and countless admirers around the world,” India’s prime minister Narendra Modi posted on X on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in BengaluruEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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