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This 92-Year-Old Runner Wants Another Shot at His 99-Year-Old Rival
92-year-old Dixon Hemphill has been running competitively for nearly 50 years. Perhaps that competitive fire is the reason Hill is itching for a rematch with 99-year-old Orville Rogers, the man who beat him in a race that’s gone viral.
https://youtu.be/JUP4dN1VW5k
The pair raced against each other at an event in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Hemphill, who participated in several other events over the course of the weekend, was beaten by Rogers for the third straight time. The elder’s time of 18.00 seconds just barely beat out Hemphill’s 18.05.
Video of their most recent race quickly went viral. Numerous news sources reported on the event, and various videos have garnered hundreds of thousands of views.
Dixon Hemphill is a former collegiate pole vaulter, high jumper and discus thrower at Middlebury College. He enjoys the attention, but the loss stoked his competitive fires.
He told the Atlanta Journal Constitutional, “I just want to run faster than I’m running. My training is not complete. I’m not doing long distance running. I want to add at least two to three miles…Orville Rogers is doing more mileage than me in a week. That’s not right in my mind. I should be doing more. I think it’ll make a difference.”
“I really enjoy the competition. I love to compete. I like to beat a person just as much as he likes to beat me,” Hemphill continued.
Dixon Hemphill should get another chance in July, when he and Orville Rogers are both scheduled to compete once again at the USA Track and Field Masters Outdoor Championships in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
