Harry Nelson has come a long way in his life, in more ways than one.
At the young age of ten, he would begin a long, and passionate journey that would leave him with a nearly unmatchable world record title by the age of 94.
Unlike most would expect, Harry himself wasn’t the Olympian appearing in the worldly games.
Instead, he was a fan, driven to attend as many summer Olympics as possible in his lifetime.
Initially, Harry went for the sheer love of the games; he never imagined his efforts would one day leave him to be a Guinness World Records holder- especially at such a wise age.
Now approaching his mid-90’s, Harry’s latest venture to Rio 2016 has now updated his long-standing record, raising the standard to 19 games for the title of Most Summer Olympic Games attended.
As one could imagine, to accomplish such a title, Harry’s record started very early on in life.
It was the year 1932 when Harry took his first steps into an Olympic arena as a young boy, which was held that year in Los Angeles, California.
There he was handed his foremost ticket stub, which would later double as a memento and official proof for the GWR Records Team that he was an attendee of those games eight decades ago.
From that initial attendance with his family, Harry would maintain the eagerness he felt to go see each games in person for the rest of his lifetime.
Out of his long streak, the only games Harry ever missed was the 1936 games in Berlin games, owing to the fact he was in high school and had no way of flying to Europe as a teenager.
But for Harry, that was the last time he would ever miss the world games. For the London 1948 games, he sold his car to pay for a plane ticket.
“I'm nosey, I wanted to see the world- and I could handle getting a different car when I got home,” he explains, when asked about his extreme, yet ardent measures.
Even when the United States President requested Harry stayed home in nearly 40 years later, he didn’t.
“The Moscow games, were the toughest to get to,” said Nelson, “President Carter sent a personal letter requesting I not go because of the political conflicts between the USA and USSR, but I went anyway.”
Now Harry’s most memorable factor of the latest Rio 2016 games is that he is recognized in the stands by other fans, officials, and Olympians.
“Some wanted to take my picture. One man had his two sons stood with me for a photo. An attendant asked for a picture with me, and helped get a cart to drive me to the other side of the stadium, so I wouldn’t have to walk to the taxi stand.”
Harry’s record title has earned him a bit of fame, but nonetheless, the man in the stands remains the same.
He still walks into the arena, looking forward to viewing countries come together, especially his favorite track and field events - a competition that has riveted him since his own high school days on the turf.
Currently, Harry’s focus is getting to games every four years, while also making sure he can cover the costs.
We can happily say that while no one seems to be in danger of taking his title, we hope to see him update his record for Tokyo 2020.
Harry has published a book telling the tale of his inspirational Olympic journey, seen below. We are honored to have his story as a part of Guinness World Records.
