Senior Couples Have A Ball Competing!

From signsonsandiego.com:

Fun and challenges are found during Senior Olympic events
By Tanya Sierra
Union-Tribune Staff Writer

Mariko and Takeo Sakakibara celebrated their medal run at yesterday's Senior Olympics. The couple took home eight gold medals and one silver for their 10 ballroom dance performances.

Takeo and Mariko Sakakibara barely got back to their seats before the couple's names were called to receive another gold medal during the ballroom dance competition of the 22nd annual Senior Olympics yesterday.
After a four-year hiatus, ballroom dancing returned to the Senior Olympics — albeit with sparse participation — at the Cottonwood Golf Club. Four couples from the Fred Astaire Dance Studio competed in the ballroom competition.

For about two hours, the Sakakibaras and three other couples glided from one corner of the dance floor to the other using techniques that they have been perfecting in dance classes.

Penny St. James and Janet Battey used their arms to enhance their performances by clasping their thumb and middle fingers as they twirled. Marie Thome gracefully moved with partner and husband Dick Thome.
The men also showed off their moves. Ron Joy, Thome and Wayne Lee forcefully spun their partners during various routines.

At the end of the event, the Sakakibaras were elated to win 8 gold medals and one silver for performing 10 dances including tango, waltz, foxtrot, cha cha, rumba, swing, salsa and the hustle.

“This is our first competition,” Mariko Sakakibara, 55, said. Her husband, Takeo Sakakibara, 65, joked they should go to Las Vegas to perform.
For three weeks every September, seniors age 50 and older show off their physical prowess by competing in 18 events from archery and swimming to bowling and billiards.

Gold medalists can move on to compete in the state games, then the regional and national games, said Daniel Propp, this year's assistant games director.

Propp, 66, a professional pool player and master instructor, said he put this year's games together in four months after the organization's office manager suffered a stroke. It usually takes about a year and $400,000 to plan the event, he said.

Until this year, Propp had never heard of the Senior Olympics, but he made it his personal mission to promote and plan next year's games. Organizers say they'd like to see as many as 50 couples join the dancing ranks.
“My goal is to make the Senior Olympics a household name,” Propp said.
The San Diego Senior Sports Festival, which puts on the games, is a nonprofit organization that encourages adults 50 and older to carry on vigorous lives and maintain physical fitness.

This year about 1,300 people participated, Propp said.

Dancer Wayne Lee, 63, who has been dancing for two years, said his quest for a unique anniversary gift for his wife led him to dance lessons.
“We liked it so much we kept going,” Lee said.

Anyone 50 and older who wants to compete in any of next year's events can call the Senior Olympics at (619) 226-1324.