Fifty-year-old Merlene Ottey became the oldest athlete to compete at the European Championships after anchoring Slovenia’s 4x100 women’s relay team on Saturday.
Ottey, a naturalised Slovenian of Jamaican origin, surpassed the record previously held by 47-year-old French marathon runner Nicole Brakebusch-Leveque at Barcelona’s Olympic stadium.
Slovenia failed to reach Sunday’s final as it finished seventh with a time of 44.30 seconds. Ukraine won the heat in 43.24 seconds.
Ottey has won 29 medals at major competitions, including seven Olympic Games starting with Moscow in 1980. She won bronze in the 200 in the 1992 Barcelona Games, when she was 32.
