Monday, February 16, 2009

The Olympic Spirit


Being in peak physical condition myself, I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed my recent trip to Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., where I got to compare notes with Olympians Anne Cribbs, Kim Carlisle and Peggy Fleming.

Cribbs and Carlisle were both Olympic swimmers. Fleming is the iconic Olympic figure skater. Cribbs (1960 in Rome) and Fleming (1968 in Grenoble, France) won gold medals. Unfortunately, despite making the Olympic team, Carlisle didn’t get to compete in the Games because of the 1980 U.S. Olympic boycott.

I am a highly decorated athlete myself, having won participation trophies over the years in both softball and bowling. So it was only natural that the four of us would gather in a local gym to swap training and nutrition tips.

OK. That didn’t happen. But I really did get to spend some time with all three between bites of my pasta and meat sauce.

Among other things, these Olympians are involved with promoting the 2009 National Senior Games, which will be held Aug. 1-15 at Stanford. The games are being sponsored by my company, Humana. More than 14,000 athletes ages 50 and above are expected to participate. The games are really personification of the idea of lifelong fitness and aging gracefully - something the Olympians know a lot about.

In fact, they say “once an Olympian, always an Olympian.” If only the same could be said for pitchers in the B division of the Salem softball league.

1 comment:

Your Favorite State Farm Agent :) said...

The legend of Doug "the flame thrower" Bennett will always live on!