Flo Meiler enjoys success

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Senior athlete enjoys success

Published: Tuesday, August 14, 2007
By Gail Callahan
Correspondent

SHELBURNE -- Flo Meiler is the first to admit she never expected to garner top accolades when she started training in track and field as she entered her 60s.

With her competitive athletic life in full bloom, the 73-year-old Shelburne woman routinely lands on the podium in regional and national competitions, while displaying no signs of slowing down. In fact, she holds two world records in track and field events.

Meiler underscores the notion that activity in later life promotes well-being. She recently returned from the U.S. Master's Track and Field competition in Maine, where she received a gold medal in pole vault, and the silver in long jump, short hurdles, hammer throw, 100-meter dash, triple jump, 200-meter dash and 4x100 relay with four others.

Meiler, who has competed in the Master's for 11 years, estimated that about 15 other Vermonters participated in this year's competition, with some receiving medals. For a complete list of results, go to www.usatf .org/events/2007/USA MastersOutdoorTFCham- pionships/schedule.asp.

Meiler also is a fixture in the Summer Senior Games, where she medaled in three separate events during the competition's summer meet in early July in Louisville, Ky. Open to athletes 50 and older, 12,100 athletes from across the country participated. More than 50 Vermont athletes competed in the Summer Senior Games, according to the Green Mountain Senior Games' office.

Initially, Meiler's participation in the summer games seemed in doubt courtesy of a bout with food poisoning, which landed her in the hospital. In the end, Meiler proved doctors wrong as she captured gold in the pole vault, silver in the high jump and a bronze in the triple jump.

"The Senior Games are not just for jocks," Meiler said. "They're for everybody."

Meiler, who is married with three children and four grandchildren, has collected 350 awards from sporting events. Her senior athletic career started in 1989 when she competed for the first time in the Green Mountain Senior Games as a tennis player. She was persuaded to switch from a tennis court to a track when fellow athlete and training partner Barbara Jordan approached her about competing in a different event.

Meiler trains three days a week at The University of Vermont under former track and field head coach Bill Nedde, who said Meiler's level of physical fitness is "incredible." "I think she's an amazing individual as an athlete goes," he said. "She has a great combination of strength and good body coordination."

A native of Champlain, N.Y., Meiler is a longtime water and snow skier, who played sports in high school. She noted there were few options for female athletes then, so Meiler participated in as many activities as she could.

Meiler agreed to participate in senior athletic competitions to show those of her generation it is never too late to start a new venture. "These games encourage physical fitness and competition," she said.