By Jared Curtis

Competitors during last year’s event. The 2012 Iowa Senior Olympics takes place June 14-18 at various locations throughout the city. For a schedule of events and more information, visit iowaseniorolympics.com.

Seniors compete for glory at annual event

Age is just a number, and for the past 26 years older athletes have proved it, as they compete for medals and glory at the annual Iowa Senior Olympics. Although the majority of the competitors involved wouldn’t consider themselves “seniors,” the event has grown in popularity, offering a wide variety of sports and games for all skill levels.

“The Olympics show the desire of people who are 50 and older to continue to stay active and compete at a higher level,” said Steve Lynn, executive director. “Maybe some of the participants haven’t been in competition for a while but remember the excitement of it. Some of the competitors just want to have fun and beat their family or friends. And we have a small group of athletes who work hard to advance to the national level.”

Athletes interested in participating must be 50 or older, and there is no maximum age limit. Some of the athletes work hard training before the event, while others are there just to have fun.

“We have a wide variety of ages competing, and we just had a 93-year-old man drop off his registration a few days ago,” Lynn said. “We have a lot of athletes who train, spending hours a week honing their skill to get ready for the event. But we also have other competitors who just show up and go.”

Although the national event only offers around 50 games, the Iowa Senior Olympics offers more than 80 events including archery, bowling, cycling, golf, handball, racquetball, swimming, table tennis, horseshoes, a softball tournament and volleyball tournament.

“We try to offer a wide range of events. Track and field across the board is our best event, but shuffleboard and the basketball events (free throw shooting and around-the-world) are also very popular,” Lynn said. “One of our fastest growing events is pickleball. This is only the second year, but it has really taken off and gotten a lot of interest.”

New to this year’s Olympics is the Frisbee Throw: Accuracy event.

“We look for new events every year, and last year the Frisbee Throw: Distance had plenty of interest,” Lynn said. “So we thought with the popularity of Frisbee Golf, we’d add the accuracy event. It’s just like Frisbee Golf as you aim for a target.”

The games are divided into five-year age brackets, with the top three finalists taking home a gold, silver or bronze metal. The Iowa Senior Olympics awards more than 1,500 medals throughout the event with the top four finishers (both in-state and out-of-state) qualifying for the national event next year.

“We do have quite a few people from out of state who are involved, but the majority are Iowans,” Lynn said. “We have some really tremendous athletes from here including Kay Glynn, who is 58 and set the world record in pole vaulting in her age bracket, and she didn’t start vaulting until five years ago; and Jim Quigley, who is from Johnston and is one of the top distance runners in his age group. Although the majority of participants get involved to have some fun, we have a small group of dedicated athletes who use this as a springboard to nationals.”

The events take place throughout the metro, and spectators are welcome. Lynn encourages everyone, even if they are not competing, to cheer on the athletes.

“Stop out and see some athletes do some amazing things,” Lynn said. “It’s an opportunity for participants to do something fun, as the games offer everything from Scrabble to biking. The athletes continue to come back and be a part of the games. I’m sure the social aspect is an added bonus, but it’s the physical aspect they truly enjoy.” CV