Giuseppe Damato, a 90-year-old runner from Borgaretto near Turin, shattered the world record for athletes over 90 in the half marathon at the Turin Half Marathon on April 19, 2026, completing the 21.097-kilometer course in 2 hours, 7 minutes, and 36 seconds.
This remarkable achievement came just one week after Damato set another world record in the marathon distance at a race in Milan, where he completed the 42.195-kilometer course in a time that surpassed the previous record for his age group by over an hour and 44 minutes.
Damato, born in 1936, celebrated his 90th birthday on January 9, 2026. He began running at age 73 after giving up cycling due to an injury, and now trains three to four times weekly, logging 10 to 25 kilometers depending on his upcoming race goals.
The Turin Half Marathon, held on April 19, 2026, attracted over 7,500 participants according to RaiNews Piemonte, with organizational counts reaching 8,000 runners across both the half marathon and 10K events. The race started and finished at Piazza Vittorio Veneto along the Po River.
In the same event, Kenyan runner Simon Ekidor won the men’s race with a time of 1 hour, 3 minutes, and 36 seconds, while Laura Restagno of Mondovì won the women’s race in 1 hour, 23 minutes, and 11 seconds.
The race coincided with Italy’s National Organ Donation Day, and featured Damiano Panaia, a heart transplant recipient who received his modern heart at Turin’s Molinette Hospital the previous year. Panaia spoke of the experience as “closing a circle,” while his cardiologist Massimo Boffini described his recovery as “optimal,” citing his race participation as proof.
Damato’s performance in Turin was officially recognized as a new world record for the over-90 age category in the half marathon, surpassing the previous benchmark for athletes in his age group.
The event was organized by Base Running and received official recognition from World Athletics and FIDAL, with FIDAL Piemonte providing approval under reference number 185/strada/2026 for the internationally certified course.
Looking ahead, Damato mentioned plans to participate in the “Tutta Dritta” race organized by his club, Borgaretto, in May 2026, and potentially the Turin Marathon in November 2026 if his health permits.
As Damato himself noted when reflecting on his training routine, he often runs to the cemetery and back to visit his wife, a round trip of approximately 18 kilometers that has become part of his regular routine.
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