How a Canadian became the world's fastest 70-year-old female sprinter

Many people try to stay healthy long enough to play with their grandkids one day. But for 70-year-old Wendy Alexis, she takes this goal a few steps further — racing against people the same age as her grandkids, and sometimes winning.

This year, Alexis broke multiple records, which includes running a 14.64-second time in the 100 metres of the women's 70-year-old category at the 2025 Ottawa Summer Twilight #8 meet in June.

Those speeds make Alexis — a mother of two, with two grandchildren, plus another on the way — the fastest 70-year-old woman in the world.

"I love competing, I like to beat people. It's really cool to set records, but most of it really is just this feeling of being absolutely free," Alexis told CBC Sports.

"The fundamental thing, I think, is just go out there and breathe free and run like I'm eight years old again."

WATCH | Alexis returned to sprinting in her 50s:

‘I want to do this forever’: Meet the world’s fastest 70-year-old female runner

Alexis, a retired teacher who resides in Ottawa, began running at age eight. As a teen, she competed on provincial and junior national teams, and was an Olympic hopeful for the 1972 Summer Games in Munich.

But after Alexis endured a career-altering injury at age 19, resulting in double-shin surgery, she was told she'd never run again.

A few years later, she would hang up her track shoes, get married, have kids and pursue a career in education.

That is, until a fateful day nearly 30 years later when Alexis was at the track watching her grandson compete for the Ottawa Lions Track and Field club.

"He said, 'You know, there's some old people at the end. Why don't you go hang out with the old people down there?'" she said.

"The Lions hold Twilight meets every