32nd St. Louis Senior Olympics Kick Off in Creve Coeur

An opening ceremony kicked off the 32nd Thursday afternoon at the St. Louis (JCC) in the Staenberg Family Complex. The first Senior Olympics was contested in 1980 at the JCC to help celebrate the center's 100th anniversary. All the other local, state and, eventually, national Senior Olympics blossomed from that first time in St. Louis.

Thursday, Jackie Joyner Kersee told the athletes they were an inspiration to her. Neal Boyd, 2008 winner of "America's Got Talent," sang the national anthem, and two Senior Olympians lit the torch.

Dottie Gray does her best to run a 5-kilometer race every weekend. Gray is 86 years old and has participated in the St. Louis Senior Olympics since 1982.
"I've been to the nationals every time since they started," Gray said. She runs all the track events, and is going to this year's nationals in Houston. "I'm a little competitive," she said. "I enjoy running and seeing all the people we know, and we meet people from other cities." She lived in Kirkwood for 57 years and now lives in Shrewsbury.

Phil Ruben, director of the games this year, said most people do it for the camaraderie and fun, though some use the St. Louis games to train for the state or national games which are held every other year. This year in St. Louis, 1,200 athletes will participate in 85 events at 13 venues around St. Louis. They are supported by 300 volunteers as well as staff from the JCC.

Terry Moore, 72, taught math at Hixson Middle School in Webster Groves for 30 years. He now lives in a retirement community in Webster Groves where he helped start up a pool volleyball team. "We use a large beach ball instead of a small volleyball, so there's less danger of injury," he said. His group pioneered the event in St. Louis and brought it to the Senior Olympics.

Bill Cannon is 80 and has been competing since 1988. He started off with swimming and now does track and field, too. He had high hopes for his first Olympics, but only won two bronze medals, because, he said, the competition keeps getting better. Since '88, though he's accumulated over 2,000 medals.

"If the world would just look at us, and more people would do what we're doing," Cannon said, "our health care system would be totally different from what it is today."

Cannon competes around the country and he still works full-time as a business development manager in the automotive after-market industry.

Salvador Paez, 70, has been competing for "15 good years," he said. He added he's never met anybody he didn't like in the Senior Olympics. He's going to the nationals this year in badminton and shuffleboard.

Jackie Joyner Kersee told the athletes she admires them because they have the heart to get out and do it everyday, to give all they have to give. "It really says a lot to the younger generation," she said, "because if we keep our mind and our body strong we can do anything. You are the example."