Dara Torres is a veteran of five Olympic Games, from the Seoul in 1988 all the way to Beijing in 2008. She had amassed a total of 12 Olympic medals, four of them gold. The then 41-year old Dara won three silver medals in Beijing. At the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, the 45-year old placed fourth in the 50m freestyle finals, narrowly missing a ticket to her fifth straight Olympics.
Dara Torres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. (Photo from Bryan Allison)
Aside from isolated episodes during my teenage years, I’ve always been a physically active person. Athletics took being just physically active to another level. In track & field, the most athletic person almost always wins. For the past decade, I’ve been breaking and building my body to be faster, stronger, and better.
Now that I’m retired from the hurdles, the time I spent doing exercise have declined. Instead of the usual five times a week, the training frequency had lessened to as low as three. This becomes problematic. I seem to get withdrawal symptoms when I don’t workout. I tend to imagine my tummy getting bigger, losing my washboard abs, and plyometric activity. These thoughts are nightmarish!
Athletes like Torres are an inspiration. To be able to compete at such a high level, despite the disadvantages of age, are truly remarkable.
Even if I’ve hung up my spikes, I would never ever give up the active lifestyle. Like Dara Torres, I’ll be pursuing ways to make my body perform better. Although I am still at a loss on what sport to pursue next, in light of my priorities in life, one thing is for certain: I’ll always be an athlete!
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