Are you a well-known athlete from your youth?

Did you know that if you live in the United States, you may compete in the Olympics?

The Senior Citizen Olympics which started in 1970, is made up of regional tournaments hosted every year in all 50 states of the United States. Every two years, one state hosts a national event (the National Senior Olympics).

The NSGA covers five areas in 2021: the Great Lakes, Northeast, Pacific, Southeast, and West. [9]
The National Senior Games Association supports these national games.

The youngest participant is 50 years old, while the oldest participant is almost 100 years old. Senior games allow seniors to be active and competitive, participate in a sport they like, and improve their health.

As of 2016, the NSGA offers 19 competition sports and one showcase event at the summer Senior Olympics (judo). Track and field and racket sports, as well as team sports, archery, and a triathlon, are among the events. Track and field, swimming, tennis, cycling, and bowling are the most popular sports. "All three of the team sports - basketball, softball, and volleyball - are popular as well," says Becky Wesley, NSGA's director of association relations.

To qualify for the national games, an athlete must be at least 50 years old on December 31st of the year in question, although there is no upper age restriction. George Blevins, a bowler, and John Donnelly, a table tennis participant, were two of the oldest athletes in NSGA's history, according to Wesley. In the 2007 Senior Games, both were 100 years old. However, there have been contestants who are older in the games. "Sam Pate, a bowler in the 2005 Senior Games, was the oldest athlete in the history of the Games," Wesley adds.

Athletes must also be at least 50 years old and achieve performance requirements in a qualifying event at the state or provincial level, with Wesley stating that "athletes must qualify through an NSGA State Senior Games event" the year before the games.

"Athletes may qualify through any state that admits out-of-state competitors," Wesley explains, "so athletes have several possibilities to qualify for the national tournament."