South Africa's centenarian runner breaks world record twice

CAPE TOWN (AFP) - The world's oldest competitive runner, Phillip Rabinowitz of South Africa, became the fastest 100-year-old in the world, for the second time in a week - but this time it is official.

Rabinowitz succeeded in breaking the world record last Sunday, but his feat could not be officially recorded after a power failure prevented the timer from working.

So he simply decided to try again on Saturday.

"I'm ecstatic. He did it. He broke the world record and he broke it in 30.86 seconds," his daughter Jocye Kruger told AFP.

The time is not as fast as last week - when he ran the 100 metres in 28.7 seconds - but it is still far ahead of the current record of 36.19 seconds, set by Austrian centenarian Erwin Jaskulski in Hawaii in 2002.

"He's very happy. He wasn't really disappointed with his time. Afterwards he looked at me and asked: 'Was it okay?'. I gave him the thumbs up signal and he had a big smile."

Kruger said her father was an avid runner and already holds the Guinness Record for the oldest competitor in walking and running events.

Asked how they would celebrate, she replied: "I don't know, really. He went home to have lunch and a rest. It's just another day in the life of Phillip Rabinowitz."