The Colorado Springs School played host to Table Tennis in the Tutt Field House. Enjoy the article by RMPBS on the 2025 Senior Games!
Video: Peter Vo, Rocky Mountain PBS
DENVER [source: Rocky Mountain PBS]— Marion Caldwell stepped up to the table and planted her legs wide, with her knees bent and the paddle gripped firmly in her right hand. Her eyes narrowed, locking in on the table tennis ball lying flat in her competitor’s palm as she prepared to receive the serve.
Caldwell is no stranger to competitive sports. In her early 20s, she was a world champion freestyle skier. This year, at 70, she competed in her first table tennis tournament at the Colorado Senior Games.
The Colorado Senior Games is an Olympic-style competition for senior athletes. From June 6-8, athletes 50 years and older competed in 17 different sports at venues across Colorado Springs.
After a more than 10-year hiatus, the competition returned to Colorado this month and was held in Olympic City, USA for the first time. More than 400 athletes registered for the competition.
Colorado joined the ranks of about 35 states who host similar events. Athletes who qualify at state-level Senior Games can compete in the National Senior Games, hosted by the National Senior Games Association.
“We were one of the only states that didn't have it, and so we're happy to help fill that void for Colorado as a whole,” said Lauren DeMarco, the communications manager for Colorado Springs Sports Corporation. “Moving [senior athletes] into their own space just gives them a little bit more spotlight and attention and respect, honestly, that they deserve.”
Exercise is beneficial for people at any age, but for older adults, staying active is important to reduce the risk of cognitive diseases like dementia, improve balance and help seniors live independently for longer. Sports are also an opportunity for older athletes to create friendships and build community.
The Colorado Springs Sports Corporation and the YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region organized the event this year.
The organizers partnered with clubs and facilities throughout the city to host tournaments and selected commissioners for each sport to oversee that sport’s event.
USA Table Tennis Hall of Famer Scott Preiss runs the Pikes Peak Ping Pong Club and served as the competition’s table tennis commissioner.
Many athletes who competed in the table tennis tournament train regularly with Preiss’ club, including 55-year-old Angie Arguna, who won gold in the 50 and over Women’s Singles event and the 50 and over Mixed Doubles event.
Arguna grew up in the Philippines and started playing table tennis when she was five. She played until she was in her 20s, training with a Filipino national coach, but stopped after she graduated college.
She didn’t pick up the paddle again until 2021, when she found the Pikes Peak Ping Pong Club. Since then, she’s trained at least six hours every week. She said she mentally trains every day, visualizing the game in her mind.
“I believe competition makes you feel young,” Arguna said. “Mentally speaking, it keeps you on top of your game strategies. You have to think ahead and you have to be active, and table tennis competitions make you do that. And of course, winning is an adrenaline rush. It's something to look forward to all the time.”
Ebenezer Quaye started playing table tennis at 13 years old, but he said he plays the sport even more — and even better — at 62. Quaye won gold in the 50 and over Men’s Singles event and the 60 and over Men’s Singles event.
“People think about the senior games as a very slow, tedious games. No, seniors here get faster and faster and faster, as they play the sport. We get faster, we catch the ball faster, we smash the ball faster. It doesn't slow us down,” Arguna said.
Table tennis is a popular sport among older athletes because it offers cognitive and aerobic benefits with a low risk of injury.
In the powerlifting event — a less popular sport for older athletes than table tennis — the competition was still fierce.
Powerlifting commissioner Samantha Todd said the winning athlete, at 64 years old, lifted a total of 1,030 pounds. This included a 501 pound deadlift, which Todd said is impressive at any age.
The oldest powerlifting athlete competed at 82 years old. Other powerlifting meets have a “masters" category for athletes over 50 years old, but Todd, owner of powerlifting gym Spartan Strength Systems, wanted to help offer older powerlifters a chance to compete in an event dedicated to them.
“I've been running meets for the past four years, and it was probably the most fun I've ever had at a meet. It was just so cool to see, like when they got a lift, just the joy on their face. They lit up the room,” Todd said.
Todd said the energy of the audience also set this meet apart from other events she has hosted.
“I think at my other powerlifting meets, the audience is engaged, but this was on a whole different level and it was just so contagious, you couldn’t help but smile the whole time,” Todd said.
The track and field competition was the only event that wasn’t free to attend, costing $5 per ticket. More than 100 athletes competed in the track and field events.
Roman Marenin served as track and field commissioner for the Colorado Senior Games. Marenin is chair of USATF Colorado Masters Track & Field. In track and field competition, masters is a category for athletes 35 years and older.
Marenin, 42, competes as a masters track and field athlete himself and holds the world record in the 200-meter relay for men aged 40 to 44 with a time of 1:29.97.
“I love seeing the older athletes doing technical high jump or pole vault or hurdles or whatever it may be. [It] just gives you so much perspective,” Marenin said. “What am I complaining about when I have to go do 200 repeats? I know someone who's in their eighties is out there grinding away at high jump or pole vault. I love it. It's super inspiring.”
Colorado Springs is home for Christel Donley, 90, who has competed and won national and international masters championships for track and field. The oldest athlete in the track and field event, Donley competed in the triple jump, high jump, javelin and the 50-meter dash during the Colorado Senior Games.
“I want to be like Christel when I grow up,” Marenin said.
[source: Rocky Mountain PBS]
