Maple Ridge’s Karen Sieben is coming off another amazing summer of competitive track and field.
The master sprinter ranks first in Canada in the 100m, 200m and 400m races in her age group of 55-59.
She went to to her first 55-plus BC Summer Games in Kelowna on Sept. 12-19, and won gold in the sprints – the 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m events. She also took gold in the 800m, and two more in the 4x100m relays – one a women’s relay team for the zone, and one a mixed team.
She said there was good competition at the event, which was the largest ever in the 40-year history of the Games, with 4,200 athletes participating in 30 different sports.
Sieben said her inspiration is the amazing track athletes she watches who are up to 90-plus years in age, and an amazing man sprinting with Parkinson’s disease.
“He melted my heart,” she said.
She enjoys the training, and plans to go as far as athletics will take her.
“I talk to ladies competing who are 85, and they say the secret is ‘just move.’ It’s when you stop that you’re body falls apart.’
Sieben is training for the Canadian championships in Kamloops next summer, and world championships in Toronto next July.
@NeilCorbett18
ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
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