02:31Russia: 101-year-old won't leave Olympic training to salmon else
Russia: 101-year-old won't leave Olympic training to salmon else
Who needs an Olympic torch when you have frozen fish? Alexander Kaptarenko is a 101-year-old retiree who is preparing for the Sochi Olympic torch relay by running around his hometown of Novosibirsk with a flame-shaped 2.9 kilogram (6.3 pound) frozen humpback salmon.
He was inspired while buying salmon at the fish market and realised that the fish's tail was similarly shaped to the base of the Olympic torch. The centenarian first began by carrying a 1.3 kilogram (2.9 pound) fish around his apartment, however he soon progressed to practicing with a heavier salmon outdoors.
Kaptarenko was born in 1912 under the Russian empire and has since survived three wars and two coups; including the siege of Leningrad.
Sports and fish-torch-bearing are not Alexander's only hobbies, he is also a writer who has written several storybooks and is working on a new book.
The Sochi Winter Olympic torch relay began in Moscow's Red Square on October 7 and is set to cover Russia's 83 regions on a 35,000-mile expedition.
02:31Russia: 101-year-old won't leave Olympic training to salmon else
Who needs an Olympic torch when you have frozen fish? Alexander Kaptarenko is a 101-year-old retiree who is preparing for the Sochi Olympic torch relay by running around his hometown of Novosibirsk with a flame-shaped 2.9 kilogram (6.3 pound) frozen humpback salmon.
He was inspired while buying salmon at the fish market and realised that the fish's tail was similarly shaped to the base of the Olympic torch. The centenarian first began by carrying a 1.3 kilogram (2.9 pound) fish around his apartment, however he soon progressed to practicing with a heavier salmon outdoors.
Kaptarenko was born in 1912 under the Russian empire and has since survived three wars and two coups; including the siege of Leningrad.
Sports and fish-torch-bearing are not Alexander's only hobbies, he is also a writer who has written several storybooks and is working on a new book.
The Sochi Winter Olympic torch relay began in Moscow's Red Square on October 7 and is set to cover Russia's 83 regions on a 35,000-mile expedition.