(Adnkronos) – The oldest marathon runner has died at the age of 114 after being hit by a hit-and-run car in his native village in Punjab, India, police said. Fauja Singh, a dual Indian and British national, had become a global icon. He set records by running marathons in various age categories, even when he was over 100 years old. He started running late, at the age of 89, and ran nine full marathons between 2000 and 2013, the year of his retirement. He was a torchbearer at the 2012 London Olympics.
The accident happened while the centenarian was walking in his native village, Beas Pind, near Jalandhar. “Searches are underway and the accused will be caught soon,” said Harvinder Singh, a senior district police official. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him an “exceptional athlete with incredible determination.” Harmander Singh, Fauja Singh’s coach at Sikhs In The City, confirmed his death on the website stating that “it is with great sadness that we can confirm that our icon of humanity and a powerhouse of positivity, Fauja Singh, has passed away in India”. His club and the charity Sikhs In The City will dedicate all their events until the Fauja Singh Birthday Challenge on Sunday 29 March 2026 to celebrate his life of achievements and milestones. “We will redouble our efforts to raise funds to build the Fauja Singh Clubhouse on the Ilford track where he used to train,” the coach said.
Torchbearer at the 2012 London Olympics, Singh achieved several milestones during his running career, including becoming the first centenarian to complete a marathon in 2011 in Toronto. Before turning 40, Singh, a farmer, had lived through both world wars and experienced the trauma of Partition. “As a boy, I didn’t even know the word ‘marathon’ existed,” Singh told the BBC. “I never went to school, nor did I practice any kind of sport. I was a farmer and I spent much of my life in the fields,” he added, explaining that he had started running precisely to deal with the pain.
After the death of his wife Gian Kaur in the early 1990s, he moved to London to live with his eldest son Sukhjinder. During a trip to India, he witnessed the death of his younger son Kuldeep in an accident that left him devastated. Overwhelmed by grief, Singh spent hours sitting near the place where his son had been cremated. Concerned villagers advised his family to take him back to the UK. Back in Ilford, London, Singh met a group of elderly men who went running together. He also met Harmander Singh, who would later become his coach. “If I hadn’t met Harmander Singh, I wouldn’t have started running the marathon,” he said in June.
