The life of this amazing athlete is divided into two parts, one where she was an ordinary person and the other part where she took on track and field and managed to do things that no one else did.
Even though the second part of her life is more interesting, we shouldn’t forget first 77 years of her life, because that shaped Olga and that made her into a person that she was.
The life of a single mother
The majority of her life was spent on raising two girls because she was a single mother. She was also a teacher in an elementary school and a volunteer at a local church. When you look at these three responsibilities, then you can understand why she didn’t have any time for anything else, especially for sports. She only had time for bowling, and that was only once a week.
This, however, changed when she retired in 1984. She started playing coed softball and she kept at it until she was 77. The decision to switch from softball to track and field came after she went through collision with a man who was twice her size. And that is when the legend of the extraordinary athlete began.
Olga Kotelko track and field career
Olga was 77 when she entered the world of track and field. The change from softball to track and the field was an excellent choice for her due to skills in throwing and running that she developed. The first record she set was in 1999 at world masters meet in Gateshead, United Kingdom. She went on to establish various records in several disciplines and to beat those records later. 100-meter dash and hammer throw records which she achieved came on a World Masters Games ten years after the Gateshead.
Every meets she went on brought her at least ten gold medals in throws, jumps, and sprints and she broke her records on several occasions. Olga was a humble person, and she said that the number of medals she earned was only possible because there weren’t many women that competed in those sports. That, of course, wasn’t true as her records were unreachable even for women that were twenty or so years younger than she was.
Conclusion – A woman that shows us how to live
Olga Kotelko showed the world that one could lead a healthy life if they are willing to be physically and mentally active in late years. She also revealed that proper training could increase the longevity and prevent the onset on many medical conditions that plague old people. She kept both her mental and physical state in excellent condition, and she showed us that everyone could do it as well.