Today on Oldest Olympians we have the same two milestone birthdays to celebrate as last year so, as usual, we are covering them both in a blog entry!
(Cheng Chi-Sen at Chineseoverseas.org)
First we are wishing Taiwanese sport shooter Cheng Chi-Sen a happy 100th birthday! Cheng represented his country in the free pistol, 50 metres events at the 1968 Mexico City Games, where he placed 56th. A police officer by career, he also competed at the 1966 Asian Games and later moved to San Francisco, where he ran a catering business. He is now the oldest survivor of the 1968 Summer Olympics, the oldest Olympian to have represented Chinese Taipei, and the oldest Olympic sport shooter!
(Akın Altıok from a Youtube video)
Next, we are wishing Akın Altıok a happy 94rd birthday as the oldest living Turkish Olympian! Altıok represented his country in the triple jump at the 1952 Helsinki Games, where he was eliminated in the qualifying round. One year earlier, he had won that event at the 1951 Mediterranean Games.
We also want to mention an Olympic mystery that we meant to cover previously, that of Dave Chapman, born August 21, 1936. Chapman represented his country in the steeplechase at the 1960 Rome Games, where he was eliminated in round one. He never won a national title, but was runner-up in the 3000 metres steeplechase in 1960 and 1962. According to the England and Wales Death Index, an individual of his full name who was born August 21, 1935 died in 1972 in Kent, but we have no definitive evidence as to whether or not this was the Olympian, with just his birth one year off.