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Indiana Woman, Florida Man Win First Gold in 2003 Senior Olympics
May 28, 2003 - Two gold medals were awarded in the first two days of
competition in the 2003 Senior Olympics being held in Hampton Roads,
Virginia, but winners are expected to be determined today in some age
brackets of archery, badminton, bowling, cycling and horseshoes.
 Linda
Downey of Bowling Green, Indiana, won the first gold medal in the 2003
Senior Olympics for her performance is the badminton singles
competition for women 50 to 54. The first man to claim the gold was
93-year-young Allen Bjork of Sebring, Florida, who was tops in
horseshoes in the 90-94 age bracket. He hit 10 ringers out of 30
tosses.
The 2003 Summer National Senior Games The Senior Olympics, the ninth
national Senior Olympics to be held, begins its third day of
competition at venues throughout the Hampton Roads area. Todays
competitions included: Archery, Badminton, Bowling, Horseshoes,
Softball, Table Tennis, and Tennis.
To compete in the Summer National Senior Games, athletes 50 and over
must qualify in NSGA-member state senior games. Men and women compete
in five-year age divisions beginning at age 50. For the 2003 Senior
Olympics, more than 27,000 senior athletes from across the country
qualified to compete in this national event.
The Summer National Senior Games have been held in odd-numbered years
since 1987 and have grown into one of the largest recurring
multi-sports event in the United States. The 2001 Senior Olympics
were held in Baton Rouge when nearly 9,000 senior athletes
participated; the largest number of participants competed at the 1999
event in Orlando when close to 12,000 athletes traveled to the Florida
city for competition.
Previous Summer National Senior Games events have been held in St.
Louis, MO (1987 and 1989), Syracuse, NY (1991), Baton Rouge, LA (1993
and 2001), San Antonio, TX (1995), Tucson, AZ (1997) and Orlando, FL
(1999). Future Summer National Senior Games events will be held in
Pittsburgh, PA (2005) and Louisville, KY. (20070 where they are again
anticipating close to 12,000 athletes.
Corporate sponsors of the event are TIME Magazine and LaurusHealth.com.
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