World's oldest Olympian dies aged 103
Nov 17, 2015
The world's oldest surviving Olympic athlete, who represented China in the discus at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, has died aged 103, Chinese state media and the world athletics governing body have said.
BEIJING - The world's oldest surviving Olympic athlete, who represented China in the discus at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, has died aged 103, Chinese state media and the world athletics governing body have said.
Guo Jie died on Sunday in the northern city of Xian, China's official Xinhua news agency said. He was born in January 1912.
"The IAAF is saddened to hear that Guo Jie, who represented China in the discus at the 1936 Olympic Games, died on Sunday at the age of 103," the athletics governing body said in a statement.
"He had been the oldest surviving Olympian."
A native of Dalian in northeast China, Guo set a national record for the discus in 1935 to qualify for the Berlin games the following year, but failed to make it to the final of the competition.
Following his sporting career, Guo became a researcher and athletics coach before officially retiring in 1987, according to Xinhua.
He also carried the Olympic torch through Xian in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing games.
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