Title: The water doesn't know how old you are
Tags: Olympics Masters
Blog Entry: The night after Michael Phelps butterflew to his mind-boggling eighth gold medal in Beijing, a local TV news channel I was watching in San Diego went to a local youth swim meet and interviewed some kids. They all wanted to be like Mike. That's natural. Olympic superstars are a great source of inspiration and motivation. But kids aren't the only ones who want to emulate their heroes. How about middle-agers who saw Dara Torres the same night set a personal best in the 50-meter freestyle in taking silver -- at the age of 41? How about the adult fun-runners who saw Romania's Constantina Tomescu win the women’s marathon earlier in the program -- averaging 5 minutes, 35 seconds per mile for 26 miles, 385 yards -- at the age of 38? Or the young Masters hurdlers who saw Jamaica's Danny McFarlane take fourth behind the U.S. sweep in the 400-meter hurdles? McFarlane is 36, and his time of 48.30 is a world-age group record. Or how about Mozambique's Maria Mutola, taking fifth in the women's 800-meter final in 1:57.68 -- at age 35? Mutola, who is retiring from professional running after competing in her sixth Olympics, was less than 3 seconds behind the winner, an 18-year-old Kenyan. One could go on and on. So I wonder: Will these be the Frank Shorters of Masters track? In 1972, Shorter won the Munich Olympic marathon and helped spark a running boom that transformed millions of sedentary adults into carbohydrate-craving road runners. Will 2008 see the dawn of a new age? The Age of Older Tracksters? The oldest Baby Boomers are now pushing 62 (with the youngest at 44), and their youth coincided with a time when track and field was a Cold War spectacle (featuring USA vs. USSR dual meets) and a sports section staple (Roger Bannister breaking the 4-minute-mile barrier in 1954 and Charlie Dumas clearing 7 feet in the high jump in 1956). In America, track was in its Golden Age. The idea that golden-agers might watch NBC and be stirred to resume sprinting may be a stretch. But mainstream media are making such a leap plausible with a constant drumbeat of stories and TV segments about aging Olympic athletes. From USA Today: "Libby Callahan is a retiree and a great-aunt 15 times over, with No. 16 on the way. She spends her time walking her dogs, gardening and baking. And training for the Olympics. Callahan will compete in pistol shooting at the Beijing Games. ... At 56, she's the oldest female U.S. Olympian ever. 'I consider it a non-factor in what I have to do,' Callahan, a four-time Olympian, says of her age." From the Dayton Daily News, under the headline This Olympics could be dubbed the Geriatric Games: "The U.S. team has five competitors 50 or older, including shooter . . . Callahan . . . and 58-year-old sailing rookie John Dane III. There are 17 others 40 or older, including swimmer Dana Torres. . . . The oldest athlete in Beijing is 67-year-old Hiroshi Hoketsu, a Japanese dressage rider who has referred to himself as 'the hope of old men.' The oldest woman is Australian equestrian Laurie Lever, 60." Torres said it best: "'The water doesn't know how old you are." Neither does the track, throwing ring or landing pit.
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