88-year-old woman completes 5 km skiing venture, breaks world record

Katsumi Saeki, from Japan had entered the Guinness book of world records by competing in the Japan Masters Championship for skiing in the previous year at the age of 87. This year, she broke her own record by competing in the 2023 Masters World Cup that was held in Austria.

 This was a cross country skiing event. It differs from downhill skiing in terms of risk presented to the participants but it still requires core strength, flexible feet and deft legs. Possessing these at the age of 88 is no ordinary task. Katsumi Saeki had completed her run in a time period faster than many other competitors in other age brackets. Katsumi Suki was the lone competitor in the above 85 section of the event.  

She finished the classic style event in a period of 26 minutes and the freestyle event in a time period of 29 minutes. This is interesting as the freestyle technique is generally considered to be the faster among the 2.

 The master’s cup is also due to be held in February 2024 and given that there is deterioration in health it can be expected that Katsumi Saeki would participate in the event yet again once again breaking the records she herself sets.