Joy Flynn Wins Two Silver Medals At National Senior Games

Amazing things happen every year at the National Senior Games, an Olympic-style event for athletes 50 years old and older, that rolls around every two years. This year in Albuquerque was no different.

Julia “Hurricane” Hawkins—at 103 years old—competed in both the 50- and 100-meter dashes, and is believed to be the oldest woman to formally compete on an American track, according to officials of the Games. It was two years prior when Hawkins set a meet record in her age group, finishing the 100 in 39.62 seconds.

There were some amazing things going on at a more local level as well. Joy Flynn, 72, of Quogue, competed in the same week-long festivities last week, and as she’s done at each competition she’s been in, returned home with medals.

Ms. Flynn won silver medals in both the long jump and 4x100-meter relay. She also placed fifth in the high jump. Competing in the 70-74 age group in all of her events, Ms. Flynn leaped 3.21 meters, or 10 feet 6½ inches, in the long jump. The relay team she was a part of, which was formed just the day prior to running, finished in 1:17.25. And Ms. Flynn reached 1.00 meter, or 3 feet 3¼ inches, in the high jump.

In both the long jump and relay, Flynn said she was overtaken by the “new kid in town,” Brenda Matthews of California, who is 70 and therefore one of the youngest competitors in the 70-74 age group. Matthews set an age group record in the long jump at 3.64 meters, then won the 4x1 relay in a Senior Games record 1:08.38.

“First of all, it was bright and sunny and warm the entire time in Albuquerque after almost a full week of rain back home, so I got pleasure out of that,” Flynn said. “But now that I’m starting to see these people every so often, it’s kind of like becoming a sorority and I’m getting to know everyone a little bit more, but we had this new kid in town, Brenda Matthews. She beat me in the long jump, she’s just terrific. I lost to some good competition.”

Ms. Matthews is part of a running club, the California Striders, and Ms. Flynn said she may join. Even though the Striders are based in Califorinia, they share training regimens and videos with teammates, and when they’re together at national competitions, they can run together in events such as the relays.

Ms. Flynn said her one disappointment was that she wasn’t allowed to compete in the triple jump. She didn’t qualify for the Senior Games in the event, but she was hoping that, based on her marks at other meets, they would allow her to compete anyway. But that wasn’t the case. Based on her previous results, Ms. Flynn said, she would have won gold in the triple jump.

Dan Flynn, 73, who is Joy’s husband, was finally able to compete once again after an Achilles tendon injury had kept him from doing so for quite some time. He was able to finish in the middle of the pack in both the discus, in which he threw 24.58 meters (80 feet 7 inches), and hammer throw, in which he tossed 16.60 meters (54 feet 5 inches).

“I was way off my best,” Mr. Flynn said. “The hammer I did on a lark at qualifying up in Cortland where there were virtually no other competitors, so I threw it around by head, and that was it. But they had a bunch of experts at Nationals, and that just gave me the resolve to be the big surprise in 2021. I’ve started studying videos on YouTube, and there are really some great tips in those. I am taking one step back and starting over with a more intelligent training program this time around.”

Mr. Flynn will be 75 and the “young whipper snapper” in the 75-79 age group. And as his wife saw in her events, being younger, albeit by a single year at times, can make all the difference.

“That’s a funny dynamic,” he said. “We had a 90-year-old who hadn’t been there for a few years who said he came back because he was going to be the young guy in the 90 to 94 age group. People really do take advantage of that, and it’s actually amazing that’s what happens.”

The Flynns said they’ll continue to compete quite a bit between now and the next Senior Games in two years. There is a four-meet schedule, with most of the events occurring in Nassau County, throughout the summer with U.S.A. Track and Field Long Island. There is also the North and Central America and Caribbean Region of World Masters Athletics Championships July 18 to 21 in Toronto that the Flynns will compete in. The USATF National Championships are going on the same time as the NCCWMA, but with the World Championships happening in Toronto next year, the Flynns felt it better to go and get a good feel of the city and venue instead of going to USATF Nationals in Iowa.