WHILE the seven socialist presidential hopefuls hurled brickbats at their Republican rival François Fillon, and at each other while they were about it, the centre of the French public’s attention on Wednesday Jan 4 was none else than a little man named Robert Marchand.

At the St Quentin-en-Yveline stadium close to the city of Versailles, Marchand rushed through 22.6 kilometres on his bicycle in exactly 60 minutes that afternoon as a crowd of young, younger and still younger fans applauded enthusiastically over his exploit.

You’re likely to wonder what is so unusual about this. But there is something very exceptional in the facts that Marchand was beating his own record set in 2014, and that he had celebrated his 105th birthday only two months earlier.

Asked for his reaction, Marchand who appeared far from being out of breath, turned towards the TV camera smilingly and said in a clear voice: “It’s a pity I didn’t notice the electronic screen that was showing my speed and the distance I was covering. Had I seen it, I’d have gone even faster.”

Born on Nov 26, 1911, Marchand lives alone in the town of Mitry-Mory some 25 km north-east of Paris. He gets up early in the morning and rides his bicycle to the market to buy his foodstuff and other daily necessities; he later does his own cooking.

“I was also in the habit of driving to Paris once a month,” he says regretfully, “but my old Peugeot that I had owned for 50 years breathed its last recently. I do not have the means to buy a new car.”

Then he breaks up smiling all of a sudden: “But I shouldn’t be complaining. Am I not the oldest sportsman in the world?”

Marchand appears very proud of the fact that his day of birth coincides with the date on which Marie Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry, the first woman to receive the honour.

Talking further about his past, Marchand says he had found a job in the fire brigade in 1931. “We used to ride bicycles a great deal those days and at one point I told my boss I wished to participate in the Tour de France. It makes me laugh even today when I think of his response: ‘At 1.52 metre you are too short to be a cyclist’.”

The doctor who takes care of him says Marchand eats four meals a day but in small quantities that mainly consist of vegetables and fruits: “He also takes a glass of wine and goes for a steak now and then, but most of the time seafood dishes are his favourite. His heartbeat is that of a man of 50.”

“You have to keep your muscles in good shape but also your brain running,” adds Marchand, “…and for this I spend the rest of my time reading newspapers, magazines and books.”

An active Resistance fighter during World War II, he escaped the Nazi forces and took refuge in Venezuela. “I stayed there for many years,” he recalls, “planting sugar cane, raising chickens and even driving trucks. Then I moved to Canada, never liked it and returned to France when the war was finally over.”

“I have known 16 presidents,” he continues: “The year I was born it was Armand Filliers and the year I celebrated my 25th birthday in 1936 it was Albert Lebrun. When I turned 50 in 1961 it was General Charles de Gaulle and my 75th year began with François Mitterrand. I celebrated my 100 years when Nicolas Sarkozy was in the Elysée Palace and I’ll know the name of my 17th president in a few months!

“No, I am not a phenomenon, just a simple guy who loves riding a bicycle,” he concludes laughing.

The writer is a journalist based in Paris.

ZafMasud@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2017