Sporty seniors
Over 60 doesn't have to mean over the hill. These badass seniors prove that it's never too late to break a world record or shatter an expectation.
105-year-old Hidekichi Miyazaki became the world's oldest competitive sprinter on September 23, 2015, when he ran 100 meters in just 42.22 seconds at a field in Kyoto, Japan. The Japanese centenarian set the record just one day after his 105th birthday.
Here, he poses like Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt in front of the electric board displaying his time.
Bouncing back big
92-year-old Harriette Thompson became the oldest woman to complete a marathon, May 31, 2015, when she crossed the finish line at the Suja Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon with a time of 7hr 24min 36sec.
Thompson ran the record-setting race, flanked by her son, Brenny, and crowds of well-wishers.
Bouncing back big
Not only did Harriette Thompson break the world record for the oldest woman to ever finish a marathon, she overcame a series of challenging personal obstacles to do it.
For starters, Thompson is a cancer survivor. So, when she decided to participate in her first marathon, it was out of motivation to raise money for cancer research. But this time around, training was particularly difficult. Thompson's husband died in January, following a lingering illness, and she developed a staph infection in one of her legs that hindered her training.
Despite those challenges, however, the impressive North Carolina native finished the race, nearly matching her time from last year. A classically trained pianist who has played three times at Carnegie Hall, Thompson reportedly plays through piano pieces in her head as she runs.
On the right track
In September 2015, 100-year-old Don Pellman from Santa Clara, California set five world records in the high jump, long jump, the 100-meter dash, shot put and discus at the San Diego Senior Olympics.
He has been competing in senior track meets since he was 70 years old and entered 890 events. Pellman now has gold medals in all but five of them. "There aren't too many people that can even walk a hundred meters to say nothing about running them," he told CBS San Francisco.
Senior track star
Pellman, 100, was just disappointed that he didn't capture a record in pole vaulting as well. He told CBS San Francisco that he missed his opening height on the pole-vault because his assisted living home doesn't have a pit for him to practice.
Pellman realizes, what he is doing at his age, isn't exactly normal. "Hundred year old people don't pole-vault and don't high jump and don't run," he told CBS San Francisco.
Here, he shows off a picture of himself pole-vaulting in years past.
Cycle back the clock
To mark his 100th birthday in 2012, French cyclist Robert Marchand rode 15.07 miles, setting a new record in the International Cycling Union's Masters +100 category.
The veteran Frenchman, who lived through both world wars, then bested his own record in February 2015 by riding 17.76 miles on the cycling track at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in France; clocking in ten percent faster at 103 than he rode at 100.
This grandma can lift more than you
80-year-old Edith Wilma Connor was named the Guinness World Records' "Oldest Living Female Bodybuilder" in 2012, after she competed in the NPC Armburst Pro Gym Warrior Classic Bodybuilding Championship.
The Denver, Colorado native, who has a total of sixteen children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, began lifting in her early 60s when she began to feel like her data entry job was making her stagnant.
She won first place in the very first competition she entered -- the Grand Masters in Las Vegas -- on her 65th birthday. Connor now works out no less than three times a week and lifts more weight than some men in their 20s.
Marathon man
104-year-old British Indian runner Fauja Singh was still running marathons right up until his 102nd birthday. Now retired, he still holds the record for his age group in the 100 metres.
A frequent marathon participant, Singh became the first 100-year-old to finish a marathon in 2011, with an 8:11:06 time at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. He was also once featured in an Adidas ad campaign, alongside David Beckham and Muhammad Ali. How many people of any age group can say that?
Going the distance
65-year-old distance swimmer Diana Nyad is no stranger to amazing feats. In August 2013, she became the first person to swim non-stop from Florida to Cuba without a shark cage; clocking in approximately 110 miles in 53 hours at 64 years of age.
Here, she is seen in 2013, swimming in a 40-meter pool, constructed in New York's Herald Square, during an attempt to swim for 48 hours straight to support victims of Hurricane Sandy.
Iron Man
85-year-old Lew Hollander is the oldest man to have ever finished an Ironman race. He is also the oldest man to have ever finished an Ironman World Championship, which he did in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii at the age of 82.
Hollander is still so active, in fact, that when we called him to request a photo for this gallery, we only reached his voice on an answering machine message, saying, "Glad you called. I'm out running, or swimming, or doing something." If that isn't awesome, we don't know what is.
"Amazing," not a stretch
At 96, Tao Porchon-Lynch holds the Guinness World Records title for oldest yoga instructor. And that isn't the first impressive title she's held.
Before entering the yoga industry, Porchon-Lynch had a storied career in show business, which included working as a fashion model in her native India, performing as a cabaret dancer under the guidance of famed playwright/director Noel Coward, winning a "Best Legs in Europe" contest, and acting in Hollywood films like "The Last Time I Saw Paris," alongside Elizabeth Taylor.
All these years later, Porchon-Lynch is still keeping those legs in shape, teaching an estimated 400 students at the Westchester Institute of Yoga in New York, which she and her husband founded in 1982.
Horse whisperer
74-year-old Japanese equestrian rider Hiroshi Hoketsu, seen here on his horse "Whisper" in the Preliminaries for the 2012 Summer Olympics, has competed in the Olympics since 1964.
He was the oldest athlete in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, placing 17th out of 24 competitors in the latter.
Speeding past the competition
73-year-old Morgan Shepherd made history in 2012 for becoming the oldest driver in history to compete in a NASCAR sprint cup series race.
He also made history in 2013 for leading three laps in a race at the Richmond International Raceway.
Game, set, match
98-year-old Artin Elmayan of Argentina is the world's oldest ranked tennis player. Elmayan still plays three times a week and says his biggest challenge is finding new partners in his age bracket.
Here, he is pictured throwing a tennis ball in the locker room before a match in Buenos Aires, September 13, 2012.
No age too high, no temp too low
At 78, Russian swimmer Ivan Abrosimov still competes as part of a local winter swimmers' club.
Here, he does push-ups on the bank of the Yenisei River, despite the sub-zero temperatures in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, November 23, 2014.
Raising the bar
Edith Wilma Connor isn't the only senior lifting expectations in the world of weightlifting. Here, Chan Berbary, 68, competes in the 65 to 69-year-old division of the 2010 National Masters Weightlifting Championships in New York, April 9, 2010.
Senior slap shot
Don Fleming, who played on the Barrie Flyers from 1956-7, still plays hockey to this day. Now 88, he is pictured here, competing in a three-day tournament for players above 80 in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Jane of all trades
87 year-old Jane Soeten has won gold medals in both the hammer throw and discus at the National Senior Olympics. She has also won a bronze medal in javelin at the event. Now 87-years-old, she plans to return to the games again in 2015.
Here, proving that she is quite literally a "Jane of all trades," Soeten performs an under-the-leg dribble in the Texas Challengers vs. Sooner Gals 80+ basketball competition during day seven of the 2011 Senior Games.
