West Virginia veterans earned over 30 medals last week at the national Golden Age Games. The competition is an athletic training program for veterans 55 years old or older and is designed to help veterans lose weight and become more physically fit.
About 800 veterans competed in the Golden Age Games competition in Biloxi, Mississippi May 7-11. Veterans from the Martinsburg VA Medical Center won medals in running, swimming, badminton, shot put and bicycling. Judi Roberts, from Martinsburg won first place in the discus competition.
“I thought, how the heck could I do discus with my shoulder the way it is? And all be darned, I was so happy to be able to do discus,” said Roberts.
Her trainer, another veteran named Darren Yowell, says the training was able to help Roberts strengthen her shoulder muscles from an older injury.
“So now something she loves is a part of her recovery. How awesome is that?” said Yowell.
The Golden Age Games was created to help older veterans improve their overall health and help them recover from physical injuries. Veterans must be 55 years of age and older, and enrolled in VA health care.
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