Meet the world’s oldest people alive!

Did you know Kane Tanaka will be the world’s oldest person to ever hold the Olympic torch?!

The Olympic torch, also known as the Olympic flame, is a tradition of lighting a sacred fire. Kane Tanaka has already lived through 49 winter and summer games but this time she’ll be participating. She was born on January 2, 1903 and she’s believed to be the world’s oldest person alive at the age of 118. Tanaka got married at 19 and had five kids. She also has overcome many challenges her way. For example, she survived cancer twice and experienced two pandemics.  

Kane Tanaka isn’t the only one who has pushed through challenging hardships. Lucile Randon, aka Sœur André, the second world’s oldest person alive, survived COVID-19! According to EyeWitness News she tested positive on January 16 and when she was interviewed she told people she didn’t know she had it. She stated, “No, I wasn’t scared because I wasn’t scared of dying.” André was born on February 11, 1904, which makes her 117 years old. Although she isn’t the oldest person in the world she is the oldest person living in France. She has also lived through the two world wars and the Spanish Flu, just like Tanaka.

Last but not least, Francisca Celsa dos Santos, the third world’s oldest person alive, was born on October 21 1904 in Cascavel, Ceara, Brazil, which makes her 116 years old. She claims to have been born on the 22nd of October, 1904, but research suggests she was actually born one day earlier. Celsa dos Santos is the longest living Brazilian person ever documented and the oldest person living in South America whose age is validated. Sadly at the age of 85 she was diagnosed with a malignant tumor which made the doctors think that she probably wasn’t going to survive. Therefore, her family took her to the hospital and treated her with home remedies. She pushed through the odds and recovered from the tumor. 

These three strong women have gone through so much in their lives. It is important that their stories are recognized and shown to the people of the world.