Alexander Kaptarenko, oldest Olympic torchbearer, dies in Russia

Alexander Kaptarenko, the Russian athlete who drew international attention by way of endurance and a frozen salmon, has died at 102.

The former table tennis player set an age record by participating in the torch relay for the Sochi Winter Olympics last winter. He was 101 at the time and trained with that salmon.

“This fish has the shape of a torch but it is heavier than the torch,” he was quoted as saying by the Siberian Times. “I take a fish by its tail, raise my arms and walk around my apartment with the fish in my hand.”

Kaptarenko also competed in a European table tennis event at age 100.

“Death is always near man,” he told the website Sib.fm last year. “And I know why death is necessary. It gives meaning to life. I would like to live a little more, to complete all my deeds.”