The world’s oldest marathon runner, Fauja Singh, who was still competing after turning 100 more than a decade ago, died in a hit-and-run on Monday, according to India police. He was 114.
Born in rural India in 1911 before later moving to London, Singh earned the nickname “Turbaned Tornado” after he took up marathon running in his late 80s. He went on to complete nine of the 26.2-mile races.
He was considered the world’s oldest marathon runner, though never secured a Guinness World Record because he didn’t have a birth certificate.
According to Indian police, an unknown vehicle hit Singh when he was walking on a road near his native village of Beas, in the north-western Indian state of Punjab.
He was sent to the Srimann Hospital in Jalandhar district where he succumbed to injuries sustained to his head and ribs, Jalandhar Rural Senior Superintendent of Police Harvinder Singh Virk said.
“We are working on identifying the vehicle. We are using CCTV footage in the area to trace the vehicle and have dispatched teams that are working on it,” the superintendent told CNN, adding that a passerby witnessed the accident.
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi led nationwide tributes, calling Singh “an exceptional athlete with incredible determination.”
Singh only started running marathons when he was 89, after he moved to England following the death of his wife and son.
“Running showed me kindness and brought me back to life by making me forget all my traumas and sorrows,” he told CNN in an interview when he was 102.
He ran his first marathon after just a couple of months of training, and achieved his personal best of five hours and 40 minutes at the 2003 Toronto Waterfront Marathon three years later.
In 2011, Singh returned to Toronto, where he became the first centenarian on record to complete a marathon, finishing in eight hours and 11 minutes and six seconds.
It was a far cry from his humble childhood in India, when he was unable to walk until he was five due to weakness in his legs.
His last race was in Hong Kong, a 10-kilometer route, in 2013, a year after he carried the torch for the 2012 London Olympics.
Despite his success, his achievements were never accepted by Guinness World Records’ rule-keepers due to his lack of a birth certificate. He did however, receive a letter from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth congratulating him on his 100th birthday.
“I am very fond of my running shoes, I absolutely love them. I wear them for pleasure. I can’t imagine my life without them,” he told CNN, when he was 102.
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