Japanese athlete Katsumi Saeki achieved a remarkable feat of becoming the world’s oldest competitive cross-country skier (Female) at the 2023 Masters World Cup held in Austria. Born on March 3, 1935, the 88-year-old Saeki broke her own record after competing in the Japan Masters Championships last year, according to the Guinness World Records. And now Saeki has extended her record by taking her talents to the world stage.
Despite being the only skier to enter the over-85 category, she achieved faster times in her two events than some of the competitors in lower age categories.
According to Guinness World Records, Saeki completed the 5 km classic-style course in 26 min 18 sec, which was faster than one woman in the 81-85 age category, three women in the 76-80 category, and one woman in the 71-75 category.
While in the 5 km freestyle event she clocked an impressive time of 29 minutes and 4 seconds, which was again faster than two women in the 81-85 category and two women in the 76-80 category.
The Masters World Cup is the official world championship event in cross-country skiing for skiers aged 30 and above. It is also recognised by the International Ski Federation.
The 2023 Masters World Cup largely saw the participation of competitors from the USA and various European nations. While from Japan there were on two female skiers taking part in the competition out of which one was Saeki.
Cross-country skiing has two main methods of racing. The first is the classic style, a technique in which the competitor’s skis move back and forth in a parallel motion inside grooved tracks of snow.
In the other method which is freestyle and faster of the two techniques, the skier moves its feet from side to side in a manner resembling ice skating.
Though cross country skiing is not as dangerous as downhill skiing, it still has the potential to cause foot and knee injuries. Lower back pain is another comman injury that can happen playing the sport due to the forward flexed position that skiers must maintain while racing.