PORT ANGELES — The 10th and final Olympic Peninsula Senior Games for athletes 50 and older continue today and run through Sunday afternoon, with local and visiting athletes competing in 14 sporting events.
Spectators can watch for free and are welcome at all venues.
Schedules are available at the Port Angeles Senior Center — Senior Games headquarters — at 328 E. Seventh St. and on the Olympic Peninsula Senior Games website at www.olympicpeninsulaseniorgames.com.
This weekend’s slate of games are a capstone to a decade of an annual athletic event that organizers said they never expected would become so popular or successful.
“In 2004, we didn’t even know if it would fly. Now here we are with close to 500 participants,” said D Bellamente, executive director of the senior center.
This will be the last full weekend of games.
Future athletic events will be organized individually, with tournaments and meets held on various weekends throughout the year, to enable senior athletes to take part in multiple sports, Bellamente said.
“It opens it up to more participation,” she said.
Opening ceremonies began with a torch run Friday night, the lighting of the Games Flame, a presentation of colors and the athletes’ recitation of the Athletes’ Creed.
Traditional competitive athletic events include swimming, track and field, cycling, slow-pitch softball, bowling and basketball.
There are also horseshoes, pickleball, pinochle, shuffleboard — and Cornhole, an event in which no medals will be awarded, is a traditional Midwestern game.
It cannot be compared to a simple children’s game of beanbag toss, Bellamente said.
“As adults, the rules get complicated,” she said.
The bags are filled with “American corn kernels,” and Bellamente said everything about the game has some kind of traditional Midwestern element to it.
Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded to the first-, second- and third-place finishers by age group and gender unless otherwise stated in the individual sport description.
Medals are presented at the completion of each competition. Any not received at the competition venue will be available for pickup at the senior center.
After the games end, results will be posted at the senior center and on the Olympic Peninsula Senior Games website.
For more information, visit the website or phone the senior center at 360-457-7004.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
