Rock icon Rod Stewart trying to break masters 100m record
"I got [my time] down to 19 seconds by learning how to push off," the 80-year-old shared.
Luca Moschini for www.rockon.it/Flickr
British rock icon Sir Rod Stewart has accomplished a great deal in his music career, but now he’s taking on something even bigger—the men’s 80+ 100m world record.
If this is a crossover you didn’t expect, welcome to the club. But apparently, Stewart is a major fitness enthusiast and even has a private track at his Los Angeles Beverly Park mansion. In an interview with AARP Magazine, Stewart revealed that he’s been running 100-metre sprints to stay in shape and feed his competitive appetite.
“I got [my time] down to 19 seconds by learning how to push off,” Stewart shared. “I’m going to try and do 17 seconds, which I think is a world record for an 80-year-old.”
Running 19 seconds for 100 metres at 80 years old is impressive, especially considering the average speed of 18.70 km/h, but Stewart still has some work to do if he wants to challenge the age-group world record of 14.21 seconds, held by American sprinter Kenton Brown. A more attainable target would be the British 80+ record of 15.16 seconds, held by Tony Bowman. To put Bowman’s time and speed into perspective, it’s still about five kilometres per hour faster than what Stewart is currently running.
Beyond sprinting, Stewart says he’s been working on improving his respiratory strength by fetching bricks from the bottom of his swimming pool. “Frank Sinatra once said to me, ‘Rod, the secret to being a great singer is having powerful lungs. Do lots of underwater swimming, where you hold your breath.’”
We hope Stewart finds quick success in masters sprinting, because we’d love to see his iconic flow on the starting blocks of the men’s 80+ 100m at the 2026 World Masters Championships in Daegu, South Korea.
