TOKYO - Rising at the crack of dawn and crunching 50 sit-ups before breakfast, record-breaking Japanese Olympian Hiroshi Hoketsu bristles when asked about his age.

 

But the equestrian rider, who at the age of 67 will become Japan's oldest Olympic representative at the Beijing Games in August, has grudgingly begun to accept his new-found fame.

"Initially I was a little reluctant about having my age splashed across the news," Hoketsu told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

"I didn't see why my age should be such a big thing. It wasn't relevant. I wasn't selected for the Olympics because I'm 67."

Hoketsu last took part in an Olympics 44 years ago at the 1964 Tokyo Games, finishing 40th in the show jumping competition.

He switched to the less physically demanding dressage in his mid-30s and was selected for Japan's team for the Seoul Olympics 20 years ago.

"I didn't take part in Seoul because there were quarantine problems with my horse," said the German-based Hoketsu. "It's not like I disappeared for 44 years.

"At the Tokyo Olympics I was still a kid -- I was 22 years old and in a dream world. Just being selected was my biggest goal then. Taking part was a bit of a fluke."

Hoketsu is set to eclipse the previous record age for a Japanese Olympian set by fellow equestrian Kikuko Inoue, who was 63 when she rode at the Seoul Games in 1988.

The oldest Olympian was Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn, who bagged his sixth Olympic medal at the 1920 Antwerp Games at the grand age of 72 years and 280 days.