Iichi Marumo started competing in his late 80s, after a life spent farming, publishing poetry and volunteering to fly in a kamikaze mission during World War II.
Iichi Marumo started competing in his late 80s, after a life spent farming, publishing poetry and volunteering to fly in a kamikaze mission during World War II.
Martin Fackler and Hisako Ueno
Reporting from Chino, Japan
When Iichi Marumo competed in his first international race seven years ago in Moscow, the Japanese speedskater moved down the ice at about the pace of a brisk jog. It took him three times as long to cross the finish line as most of the other skaters that day.
It didn’t matter, because Mr. Marumo was also three times as old. He was 88, and his time was still fast enough to earn him a silver medal in his age category of 85 and up.
Ever since, he has won only gold. Now 95, in his most recent race, a national competition in Japan in January, he competed in a category that was created just for him: 95 and over.
So far, he has the category all to himself.
“I win a gold medal every time I appear,” Mr. Marumo said in an interview at his home in Chino, a small city in the rugged mountains of central Honshu, Japan’s main island. As proof, he pulled out a plastic shopping bag filled with more than 20 gold medals, including from races in the Netherlands and Canada.
A small man with slightly bowed legs and an impish smile, Mr. Marumo has been skating his whole life, but he began his competitive career at an age when most people would feel lucky to still be alive. On his wall, plaques from Guinness proclaim him to be the world’s oldest male competitive speedskater. His closest rival is a Norwegian skater who is five years younger. (The oldest currently active female competitor is an 80-year-old Dutch skater.)
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