106-year old breaks Olympic record, becomes oldest torchbearer
With about 45 days still left for the Olympics, 106-year old Aida Gemanque set the record for oldest Olympic torchbearer when she carried the Olympic flame in the Amazonian city of Macapa. Not new to breaking records, Germanque had earlier broken the record for oldest skydiver when she was 103.
Gemanque broke the record formerly held by Alexander Kaptarenko who was 101 when he took part in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics relay, according to Rio2016.com.
Germanque said, “I am overjoyed. I have to be grateful for this joy, which I never expected in my life. I am immensely proud,” after she lit the celebration cauldron in Macapa, the capital of Brazilian state Amapa, reported Rio2016.com.
Meet Aida Gemanque (aka Grandma Iaiá), the oldest torchbearer in Olympic history! https://t.co/5WSFWZpjKM pic.twitter.com/crQNkKDb0e
— Rio 2016 (@Rio2016_en) June 18, 2016
Germanque had earned the nickname ‘extreme granny’ when she broke the record of ‘oldest skydiver’ at the age of 103.
The Olympic flame, which travels around the world before reaching Rio de Janeiro on the opening day of the Olympics, was welcomed to Macapa on Thursday. The flame was welcomed with fanfare involving dances, music, drumming and cultural displays such as marabaixo, an Afro-Brazilian dance of joy and resistance.
Experiente paraquedista aos 107, Vovó Iaiá chegou com a @ChamaOlimpica pra acender a pira do #TourDaTocha em Macapá! pic.twitter.com/O7wbyc3qiI
— Brasil 2016 (@Brasil2016) June 16, 2016
The relay in Macapa was also remarkable for reasons other than Germanque’s feat. Maria das Dores Rosário Almeida, the great-granddaughter of slaves, a specialist in African history and Brazilian culture, tirelessly working to preserve the history of Afro-Brazilian resistance in the region, also carried the torch.
Aida Mendes, a Vovó Iaiá, tem 107 anos e seu 1º salto de paraquedas está no Guiness. Hj, acendeu a Pira em Macapá. pic.twitter.com/X2V3ssFBES
— Rio 2016 (@Rio2016) June 16, 2016
Founder of Negras da Amazônia Brasileira (Black Women of the Brazilian Amazon) and the collective Instituto de Mulheres Negras do Amapá (The Institute of Black Women of Amapá), Maria said she was moved to create these organisations as a voice for the black people, specifically black women in the region. She said, “We fight for fair development and the well-being for all black women, ancestral warriors, of the present and future. This is what the Olympic flame represents for us,” reported Rio2016.com.
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