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101-year-old Sikh-Briton Fauja Singh has been named one of the torch bearers for the 2012 Olympic torch relay. His name was flashed on the official website of the London Olympics on Thursday, May 10, 2012. A total of 8,000 inspirational people have been nominated to carry this flame that will journey across the United Kingdom from May 19 till July 27. Fauja Singh, who completed the London marathon last month at the age of 101 and beat his own record, will carry the flame through the London Borough of Newham on July 21. This is the second time that he has been selected for this honour: he was also a torch bearer for the Athens Olympics in 2004. Fauja was in the news recently, not only for his completion of yet another marathon in London, on Sunday, April 22, 2012 and for breaking his own record, but also for his announcement that it was his last full marathon. He insists, however, that he will keep running as long as he can, though for shorter distances. "Everyone dies, so you might as well die ... doing something you enjoy," Fauja Singh said. “If I stop training and running I think my health will deteriorate and I'll die. I just can’t sit still. I still like to run and walk 6 to 10 km once a week to keep myself fit. It is what keeps me going,” he explained to his millions of fans around the world. |
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