Supercharged
When I picked my daughter up from school the other day, she had quite a story to tell.
It seems that during phys ed class that day, the kids had been training for a mile run, and she and her friends had noticed an older woman on the track. Later, the phys ed teacher gave the kids a pep talk: “Many of you are having trouble because you aren’t pacing yourself. So just think about that woman we saw on the track today. She is 89 years old and still competes in decathlons!” The teacher said that the woman — Flo Meiler — was getting ready for her next competition, and a TV crew would be coming the next day to film her.
I hadn’t heard of Meiler before, so I did a little research. While she says she’s long enjoyed sports like tennis and water skiing, she didn’t get into track until age 60 and didn't start pole vaulting until she was 65. Over the years, she’s won more than 1000 track and field medals. She turns 90 next month, and is looking forward to winning more medals:
[S]he’s the first American woman of her age to complete the 100-meter, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter, 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1500-meter, all in just two days.
“The 1500 was the last, and that was brutal,” she said. “I knew I could do it, but I did it at a slower pace than I wanted because it was 86 degrees, and I’m used to Vermont’s 75 degrees.”
If there are folks reaching their 90’s who possess athletic talent and energy that far exceed that of most folks 20 or 30 (or more) years younger, then we shouldn’t be too surprised that there are supercharged octogenarians like Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders who still got game in the political arena.
When he was running for president in the last election, I called my senator “Energizer Bernie.” In this video — taken just a month after getting his stents — he sinks 6 baskets in 38 seconds! In the background, you can hear Jane Sanders quip, “Now you’re just showing off.”
And let’s not forget it was octogenarian Dr. Anthony Fauci who tirelessly led America’s efforts to overcome a horrendous pandemic.
The right-there-in-front-of-our-noses truth is that there are supercharged seniors who have the good fortune to possess more talent and more stamina than most people decades younger. We should be forthright in rejecting any prejudice that would dismiss this truth.