Ida Keeling
Ida Keeling (born May 15, 1915)[1] is a Caribbean American centenarian track and field athlete. Trained by her daughter Cheryl (Shelley) Keeling, herself a World Record holder, Ida holds Masters records in 60 meter and 100 meter distances for women in the 95-99 and 100-plus age groups. Her story was featured in a segment in the Carl Reiner-hosted documentary If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast, on aging over 90, which premiered on HBO in June 2017.
Personal information | |
---|---|
Ethnicity | Caribbean American |
Citizenship | American |
Born | May 15, 1915 |
Sport | |
Sport | Track & Field ![]() |
Event(s) | 100 meters, 60 meters |
Records
In 2011, at 95 years old, Keeling set the world record in her age group for running 60 meters at 29.86 seconds at a track meet in Manhattan,[2] and in 2012 she set the W95 American record at the USATF Eastern Regional Conference Championships at 51.85.[3] In 2014, at the 2014 Gay Games, Keeling set the fastest known time by a 99-year-old woman for the 100-meter dash at 59.80 seconds, although the relevant USA Track & Field webpage does not currently include a 100-meter record for US women older than the 90–94 age division.[4] On April 30, 2016, Ida became the first woman in history to complete a 100-meter run at the age of 100. Her time of 1:17.33 was witnessed by a crowd of 44,469 at the 2016 Penn Relays.[5][6][7]
Personal life
Keeling is a longtime resident of New York. Her mother died when Ida was young and her husband died of a heart attack when she was 42. She had four children, two of whom, Charles and Donald, died in drug-related killings in 1978 and 1980 respectively. Her eldest daughter, Laura, worked as the CEO of two Urban League affiliates. Her youngest daughter, Shelley, is a lawyer and real estate investor who also coached for a local high school. Shelley also coached her mother and first convinced her to run in a "mini-run" at the age of 67.[8]
References
- Wills, Cheryl (14 March 2011). "Women's History Month: Elderly Bronx Woman Sprints To New Heights". Time Warner Cable News 1. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
- "95-Year-Old Woman Sets Running Record - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. 2011-02-20. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
- "Ida Keeling at 97 becomes oldest American female sprinter". masterstrack.com. Archived from the original on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2014-08-22.
- Ron Dicker (2014-08-14). "99-Year-Old Sprinter Ida Keeling Leaves Aging In The Dust".
- "masterstrack.com".
- "Watch: 100-year old Ida Keeling breaks 100-meter age group record". Yahoo Sports. 2 May 2016.
- Los Angeles Times (3 May 2016). "Watch 100-year-old Ida Keeling set a world record in the 100-meter dash, then do some push-ups". latimes.com.
- Remnick, Noah (2016-04-22). "At 100, Still Running for Her Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-04-25.