Aldergrove’s Frances Steinfeld, 85, won two gold medals at the 55-plus BC Seniors Games, held in Abbotsford August 22-26.
“This is actually the 25th [55+] games I’ve done,” Steinfeld told the Langley Advance Times.
“It’s always fun.”
She downplayed her double win, saying it helped that a world record holder in the same age category did not take part.
Her gold medals were in women’s 85-89, for the shot put and hammer throw events.
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Steinfeld, who has been competing in track and field since the late 70’s, was one of several athletes from the Aldergrove and Langley area to win their events at the Abbotsford competition.
Besides Steinfeld, at least two other athletes from Aldergrove came home with gold, swimmer Allan Emes in the men’s 55-59 25m butterfly, and bowler Robin Hibbs in the five-pin 55plus Div A high scratch single category.
Langley gold medalists included Murrayville cyclist Brian Parkinson, who took three gold, in the men’s 80-84 road race, time trial and hill climb events.
Parkinson, who’s been competing in triathlons in 1988, said now that he’s turned 80, he’s eased up slightly.
“I don’t want to be a statistic in the event,” he laughed.
He said the weather on the day of the cycling events was good, “except for the [wildfire] smoke. You could taste it at the end.”
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Other Langley gold medalists included three bocce players who recorded first-place finishes in the 55-plus division, Blandino Battistin and Gino Russo in bocce men’s and Vicky Lee in bocce women’s.
Swimmer Ingrit Gould won two swimming gold medals in the women’s 70-74 400m and 800m freestyle events.
Albert Chan won gold in the 60-64 time trials.
In golf, Richard Smyth won the 75-plus men’s flight.
Three Langley athletes won table tennis events, Maxwell Montague, the men’s 70-74, Jenny Gao Stern, women’s 65-69, and Alice Kennedy, women’s 80-plus.
Joyce Essex won gold, twice, in women’s 65-69 shot put, and weight throw. Joe Hill won men’s 60-64 javelin, Helen Bucholz was first in two 70-plus archery events, and Vanessa Whittell won gold in 55-plus equestrian dressage.
As well, Harnek Toor, who resides on the Aldergrove-Abbotsford border, took home four gold medals, in the men’s 75-79 category, in shot put, 1500 metre race walk, weight throw, and throws pentathlon events.
Langley-area athletes also made multiple individual podium appearances to collect silver and bronze medals, as well as winning team awards.
They were part of the zone 3 Fraser Valley team that won 275 gold, 177 silver and 125 bronze medals to top the standings with 577.
Lower Mainland zone 4 (301) and Vancouver Island North zone 2 (169) were second and third, respectively.
With an estimated 2,500 athletes competing in 23 sports, the 55+ BC Games are the largest annual multi-sport event for older competitors.
Abbotsford 2023 55-Plus BC Games president Mary Boonstra praised the older athletes for following their competitive dreams.
“We believe that it is one thing to have something in your mind that excites you, and another to put it into action,” Boonstra said.
“We are so proud of you for taking your dream and making it a reality for yourself, by taking chances, by stepping outside your comfort zone and opening yourself up to new experiences.”
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Abbotsford has now passed the flag to Salmon Arm, which will host from Sept. 10 to 14, 2024.