JAPANESE centenarian Hidekichi Miyazaki set a fresh record as the world’s oldest competitive sprinter this week, one day after turning 105, but said he was disappointed at falling short of his own personal best.

    “I wanted to shave off a few more seconds as I got 36 seconds while training,” Miyazaki said after completing his heat.

    The centenarian raced into the Guinness World Records reference book Wednesday and declared himself a “medical marvel” as he continues to stalk sprint king Usain Bolt.

    Miyazaki, dubbed “Golden Bolt” after the fastest man on the planet, clocked 42.22 seconds in Kyoto to set a 100 meters world record in the over-105 age category — one for which no mark previously existed — a day after reaching the milestone age.

    “I’m not happy with the time,” the pint-sized Miyazaki said. “I started shedding tears during the race because I was going so slowly. Perhaps I’m getting old!”

    Indeed, so leisurely was his pace that Bolt could have run his world record of 9.58 four times, or practically completed a 400 meters race — a fact not lost on Miyazaki.

    “I’m still a beginner, you know,” he said, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ll have to train harder. Training was going splendidly, so I had set myself a target of 35 seconds. I can still go faster.”

    “I will say this: I’m proud of my health,” added Miyazaki, the poster boy for Japan’s turbo-charged geriatrics in a country with one of the world’s highest life expectancies.

    “The doctors gave me a medical examination a couple of days ago and I’m fit as a fiddle.

    “My brain might not be the sharpest but physically I’m tip-top. I’ve never had any health problems. The doctors are amazed by me. I can definitely keep on running for another two or three years.”

    Dressed in his trademark red, tight shorts hiked alarmingly high, Miyazaki got off to a wobbly start before finding a gentle rhythm and trotting across the finish line to loud cheers, greeted by his great-grandchildren carrying bouquets.

    Cheekily, he celebrated by striking Bolt’s famous “lightning” pose before being presented with a certificate from Guinness officials.

    Asked about Bolt’s latest heroics at last month’s athletics world championships in Beijing, Miyazaki screwed up his nose and said with a chuckle: “He hasn’t raced me yet!”

    (SD-Agencies)