Olympics 2012: Diana Gould, 100-Year Old Woman, Among London Olympics Torch Bearers

Centenarian To Carry Olympic Torch

She may not clock anything close to a world-record time, but Diana Gould is already the most famous runner of the 2012 Olympics. Mrs. Dinah Gould, who prefers to go by Diana, Reuters notes, will be the oldest torch bearer leading up to London's Summer Olympics.

Although she turns 100-years-old on May 23, according to EuroSport, the grandmother sees age as just a number.

"I might be 100 in numbers, but I'm not old," Gould told ITN. "I played badminton and table tennis until I was 86."

Gould keeps in shape physically, EuroSport writes, by teaching an exercise class three times a week for older adults that includes bending, stretching and hand-eye coordination. She also attributes good health to mental sharpness, though admitting she still has her vices.

"I do a lot of reading, do a lot of puzzles, play a lot of Scrabble and talk a lot of nonsense and that’s the secret to living to 100," Gould told EuroSport. "I am a bit of a chocoholic though."

Now that she's tasked with a new national duty, how does the nonagenarian train for her torch jaunt?

"I am walking up and down holding a candlestick," Gould told The Telegraph.

According to the BBC, 8,000 torch bearers will carry the Olympic flame over an estimated 8,000-mile journey, beginning on May 18.

READ THE FULL ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORT BELOW:

LONDON (AP) — Schoolchildren, charity fundraisers, war veterans and a centenarian are among 8,000 people who will carry the Olympic flame in the torch relay for the 2012 London Games, organizers announced Monday.

London Games officials unveiled a street-by-street map of the 8,000-mile (12,875-kilometer) route, which begins at Land's End — the westernmost tip of England — on May 19.

Some 8,000 torchbearers will carry the flame across Britain, with a stop in Dublin, Ireland.

The International Olympic Committee ruled relays should be confined to host countries after human rights protests disrupted the international route before the 2008 Beijing Games.

Most of the torchbearers are members of the public chosen for embodying community spirit, courage and sporting determination.

The volunteers, who each will cover about 300 yards (meters) include Britain's oldest full-time firefighter and a soldier who lost three of his limbs in an explosion in Afghanistan.

The youngest is 11, and the oldest is Londoner Dinah Gould, who turns 100 on May 23.

"As long as the walk is on the flat I think I'll be OK," she told the BBC.

One of the first torchbearers will be Dave Jackson, a volunteer coast guard officer from Cornwall, southwest England.

"I think it'll be a case of 'don't drop it'! That'll be going through my mind quite a bit," he said. "'Don't start any fires.'"

While most torchbearers will walk or run, the flame will also be carried on skates, whizzed on a zip wire off the Tyne Bridge in Northeast England and rowed along the River Thames during its 70-day trip.

Olympic organizers said Monday that the relay will pass within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of 95 percent of Britain's population.

Details of the final two days of the journey — and the names of those who will carry the flame into the Olympic Stadium ahead of the July 27-Aug. 12 games — are being kept under wraps.

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Online: www.london2012.com/olympictorchrelay

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