Ugo Sansonetti (10 January 1919 – 14 August 2019), nicknamed Matusalesto (a pun based on the name of Matusalem and the Italian ''lesto'', "quick"), was an Italian writer and masters athlete.

Biography

He is the current

world record holder In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

in the M85

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

and M90

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

. He is famous throughout Italy for his appearance as a spry athlete in a

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

and a

Bertolli Bertolli is a brand of Italian food products produced by multiple companies around the world with the trademark owned by Mizkan Holdings. Originating as a brand of extra-virgin olive oil, in which it was the global market leader, pasta sauces an ...

advertisement. Born in

Rome, Italy , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg ...

, he was the son of Admiral

Luigi Sansonetti Luigi Sansonetti (22 February 1888 – 7 November 1959) was an Italian admiral during World War II. Early life and career Luigi Sansonetti was born in Rome in 1888, and entered the Livorno Naval Academy in 1905; he graduated as an ensign in ...

. From 2011 he lived in Rome, has ten children, 25 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. He has a degree in law and was a pioneer cavalry officer.A 85 ANNI VOLERÀ IN ASSENZA DI GRAVITÀ CON SPACELAND
(Nota: l'articolo è del 2004, il volo è stato poi effettuato l'anno successivo, all'età di 86 anni, non 85) He was an honorary citizen of

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, where he led a company doing agricultural colonization in the fifties. Among his writings is curating ''Emigranti alla conquista della foresta'' (translated=''Migrants to the conquest of the forest''), which promotes that colonization of Costa Rica. In the seventies he directed and helped to lift a European frozen foods manufacturer that would later become known as Findus.Felice Alborghetti,
Tutti i record di Matusalesto
', Stadium on line N.1/2, Centro Sportivo Italiano, gennaio/febbraio 2009. In 1991 he was appointed Grand Officer of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

and in 2006 received the Star of Merit for his work.

First octogenarian in zero gravity

In 2005, at the age of 86 years, he participated in project SpaceLand Sansonetti, a flight in a weightless environment on a Boeing 727 -200. Starting from

Bordeaux, France Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

, it was the first parabolic flight to accommodate ordinary citizens, and the first to bring on board an octogenarian.''Elisir di lunga vita. Per lui è il latte fresco'', in '' Altroconsumo N.225'', Milano, Altroconsumo Edizioni, aprile 2009, p.51'Zero-G', in aereo a gravita' zero

Masters athletics

As an athlete, he claimed to have won 70 medals, 42 of them gold. In addition to the outdoor world records, he held several indoor world records in the M90 60 metres, M85 and M90 200 metres and M90 400 metres. He won several

World Masters Athletics Championships The World Masters Athletics Championships are the biennial championships for masters athletics events held under the auspices of World Masters Athletics, formerly called the World Association of Veteran Athletes, for athletes 35 years of age or o ...

Works

Author: *''Coto Brus, là dove gli alberi sorreggevano il cielo'' (Coto Brus, where the trees holding up the sky), Scorpio, 2000. *''Non fermarsi mai! Per conservare la giovinezza fino agli 80 anni e oltre'' (Never stop! To preserve his youth up to 80 years and older), Sports Society Press, 2003. *''SMS. Messaggi alle nuove generazioni'' (SMS. Message to new generations), Florence, Florence MEF Books The Author, 2008. Curator: Introducing: Herzel G. Weizmann, ''Emigranti alla conquista della foresta'' (Migrants to the conquest of the forest). Promoted Italian colonization in Costa Rica: San Vito de Java, Franco Angeli, 1985.

References

External links

Ugo Sansonetti
profile at Masters Athletics {{DEFAULTSORT:Sansonetti, Ugo 1919 births 2019 deaths Italian masters athletes Italian centenarians Men centenarians Expatriates in Costa Rica