As a member of USA Table Tennis, Guilfoil is eligible to participate alongside the more elite players at the trials, which are scheduled to take place in Greensboro, North Carolina from February 4 to 6.  

The Kansas City native, who has been playing table tennis for 80 years, also attempted to make the US team for the London 2012 Olympic Games but missed out on a place after suffering first-round elimination at the trials.

"I did pretty well, considering I had a $45 (£31/€41) bat, and they had expensive equipment," Guilfoil told KMBC News.

"This year I'm going to practice more.

"It's exciting."

Guilfoil grew up playing tennis and table tennis and was once nationally ranked in the sports.

He has been teaching both at the Overland Park Racquet Club in Kansas City for nearly 40 years.

The oldest ever Olympian is Sweden’s Oscar Swahn, who was 72 years, 281 days old when he competed in shooting at the 1920 Games in Antwerp, Belgium.

He also qualified for the 1924 Olympics in Paris but withdrew without competing due to illness.

Swahn is also the oldest Olympic gold medallist having topped the podium at the 1912 Games in Stockholm.

At the time of his win, Swahn was nine months older than American archer Galen Spencer had been when he won his gold medal at the 1904 Olympics in St Louis.

The oldest competitor at London 2012 was 71-year-old equestrian rider Hiroshi Hoketsu of Japan, putting him third in the all-time list. 

The US’s sole London 2012 representative in men’s singles table tennis was Timothy Wang, who lost against North Korea’s Kim Song-nam in the preliminary round.