Short messages: madness! At the proud age of 105, Frenchman Robert Marchand attempted a world hour record today at the velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines near Paris. After 60 minutes, the still fit old gentleman had covered a little more than 23 km.
It's unbelievable what some people are still capable of, even in old age. The Frenchman Robert Marchand, born in November 1911, already made headlines a few years ago when, at the age of 102, he attempted a world hour record and managed a remarkable 26,95 km. Marchand, who was just under 1,50m tall, was not satisfied with that and continued to train even in old age. The senior is still in the best of health and set his sights on the class again today. He couldn't break his previous record - but in the end it was more than a respectable 22,58 km.
After all, Marchand doesn't have to deal with unpleasant allegations – he joked beforehand: "If I managed 30 kilometers, everyone would say that I'm doped!"