Not all that long ago, conventional medical wisdom was that the human body crumbled gradually before it collapsed completely. But as recent research has demonstrated, physical decline can not only be slowed, it can also be reversed. Even those in their 90s can build muscles and increase their aerobic capacity. "You can die healthy," says Dr. Peter Jokl, professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation at the Yale University School of Medicine. Yes, and in the meantime, if you take care of yourself and train properly, you can be a competitive athlete.
Those who think Jokl is talking about playing a few rounds of golf might want to drop in on the 1999 Senior Olympics, formally known as the National Senior Games, scheduled this year from Oct. 19 through 29 in Orlando, Fla. Begun a dozen years ago as a competition among 2,500 older athletes and played every other year since, the Senior Olympics has become a growing showcase for mature athletic talent. This year more than 12,000 men and women ages 50 or older--37 of them in their 90s--will compete in 18 sports from archery to volleyball.
What are the limitations of a senior athlete? Ligaments and tendons lose some of their fluid content and become less flexible with age. Muscles in older people don't use sugar as well, so the ability to respond with a burst of activity declines.
Even so, better fed and more scientifically conditioned than any previous generation, today's senior athletes are stretching their bodies' performance beyond what was once thought possible. Some are even winning phantom races against young champions of the past, swimming and running faster, jumping higher and farther than Olympic medal winners in their prime early in the century. One bettered Johnny Weissmuller, who went on to become Hollywood's most famous Tarzan (see chart).
A number of Senior Olympics competitors were high school and college All-Americans a generation or two ago. But many others are no more than moderately talented late bloomers. A fierce competitive spirit drives some. Others are attracted to the Games largely because of the camaraderie or as a way of keeping life fresh and exhilarating: "Because there's always an event coming up," says swimmer Bob Bailie, 64, of The Woodlands, Texas, "a senior athlete always has a date with the future." Here are the stories of five of them.
PHIL MULKEY An Olympian dreads practice, eats fast food--and wins
Luckily for ordinary competitors with ambitions to win, relatively few former Olympians or other world-class athletes appear at the Senior Games. Perhaps they don't want to smudge the public memory of their heroic youth. Phil Mulkey, 66, is an exception--a former Olympian who will compete in the Games who has an additional explanation for the absence of other stars of long ago. "Part of the reason may be that they are just worn out," he says. The ordeals of a young superathlete's training and competition have an aftermath. "I can tell you that my bones, my joints, my muscles hurt," says Mulkey.