Ottavio Missoni, 91, poses with his wife Rosita, 81, at their company headquarters in Sumirago, northern Italy, April 24, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

Keeping it in the family

Ottavio is still active. He participated in competitions for veteran athletes until he was 90 and last September he was due to be the oldest athlete at the European Masters Games in Italy, competing in the javelin, discus and shot put but he withdrew after he developed back pain.

He spends his time painting, swimming and exercising in his small private gym surrounded by his many athletic medals and fashion tributes.

"Sometimes they take me around as if I were a religious relic but I refrain from working miracles now," he wrote in his autobiography "A Life on the Wool Line," a play on words because in early races a strand of wool was used as finish tape.

Ottavio Missoni, 91, holds a framed poster for the 1948 Olympics in London at his house in Sumirago, northern Italy, April 24, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

Every year in July, the Missonis take their vacation on their boat along the Dalmatian coast on the Adriatic, where Ottavio was born of Italian parents in what is now Dubrovnik. This year they will postpone their trip so they can watch the Games on television.

Asked if he would like to go to London to watch the Games, he said: "The desire is there but I lack ....". And, once again, Rosita completed his thought, adding "the body".

They clasped their hands, their veins forming a pattern not unlike one of their classic geometric designs and laughed, in unison, like a couple on a park bench remembering old times.