Italian sprinter races into her ninth decade

At almost 93 years old, Italian sprinter Emma Maria Mazzenga is the fastest female nonagenarian on the planet. She proudly holds multiple world records, proving that getting older doesn't necessarily mean slowing down.

Scientists recently decided to study what makes Emma so extraordinary. After all, most people aren't setting sprinting records into their 90s. What they discovered was remarkable: in several key ways, Emma's body functions more like that of someone decades younger.

• Researchers found her ability to process oxygen rivals active women nearly half her age. 
• Even more impressive, her mitochondria perform more like those found in healthy people in their 20s.
• Emma's muscles also maintain unusually strong connections to the nerves that tell them when to move, a system that usually deteriorates with age.

Emma doesn’t spend hours in the gym. The 92-year-old typically trains just three times a week, focusing on short, intense sprint workouts that rarely last more than an hour. She also walks regularly and occasionally does some light strength training.

She also wasn't a lifelong fitness fanatic. Emma sprinted when she was younger, then stepped away from the sport for decades while raising a family and building a career, before returning to running in her mid-40s. Fifty years later, she's still breaking records.

The scientists studying Emma say there are still plenty of mysteries to solve. Some parts of Emma's body show normal signs of aging, while others seem almost frozen in time. But one lesson is already clear: movement matters.