101-Year-Old Russian Trains to Carry Olympic Torch
- 10 years ago
At 101 years old, Alexander Kaptarenko will be the oldest person ever known to carry the Olympic torch.
The Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games are still months away, but the torch has been on an epic journey through Russia since early October.
It will soon be making a trek through Siberia and one of its carriers has been hard at work training for the moment.
At 101 years old, Alexander Kaptarenko will be the oldest person ever known to carry the Olympic torch.
Knowing there will be a lot of eyes on him, he wants to be ready and has taken the advice that he train for it seriously.
He’s been walking and playing table tennis several times a week to keep in shape, but there’s been just one problem with his preparation – he doesn’t have a torch to practice with.
Weighing in at over 6 pounds, hauling one and holding it steady for any extended amount of time is no small matter.
For now he’s found a decent substitute in a three pound piece of frozen salmon.
He said the idea came to him one night when he was preparing for dinner. Shortly after he got a piece closer to the torch’s actual size and weight and now trains with it.
The Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games are still months away, but the torch has been on an epic journey through Russia since early October.
It will soon be making a trek through Siberia and one of its carriers has been hard at work training for the moment.
At 101 years old, Alexander Kaptarenko will be the oldest person ever known to carry the Olympic torch.
Knowing there will be a lot of eyes on him, he wants to be ready and has taken the advice that he train for it seriously.
He’s been walking and playing table tennis several times a week to keep in shape, but there’s been just one problem with his preparation – he doesn’t have a torch to practice with.
Weighing in at over 6 pounds, hauling one and holding it steady for any extended amount of time is no small matter.
For now he’s found a decent substitute in a three pound piece of frozen salmon.
He said the idea came to him one night when he was preparing for dinner. Shortly after he got a piece closer to the torch’s actual size and weight and now trains with it.