'I'm a sprint champion at 55 and have no plans to stop'

Darren Scott has won more than 100 medals over his athletics career

A veteran sprinter who became an over-55s world champion has said he wants to carry on competing until he's 100.

Darren Scott from Runcorn has won more than 100 medals over his career and was crowned the 200m gold medallist at the 2024 World Masters Athletics Championship with a time of 23.63 seconds.

Mr Scott had previously bagged gold in the over 35s, 45s and 50s categories.

The 55-year-old fitness instructor, known as the Flying Scott, told the BBC: "If you can keep yourself fit and healthy there's no reason why you can't carry on."

The Masters championships are for athletes aged over 35, with events bracketed into five-year age categories.

The latest meet, in Gothenburg, Sweden, involved more than 8,000 competitors from 111 countries.

Darren Scott (right) trains in St Helens with his running partner Mike

Mr Scott, a fitness instructor at the gym in The Heath Business and Technical Park in Runcorn, also won bronze in the over-55s 100m sprint.

He said: "It's just a great feeling when you put all that hard work in, you keep away from injuries, and then you actually deliver."

With his running partner, Mr Scott is still capable of running a 100m sprint in less than 11.5 seconds and has no plans to hang up his trainers.

"I think if you keep on enjoying it there's no end is there?" he said.

The Masters Championship has age categories going up to more than 100 years and Mr Scott said he had seen athletes of that age competing.

"If you can keep yourself fit and healthy there's no reason why you can't carry on," he added.