CANADA: Grandma, 95, proved it's never too late to take up sports

. ORANGEVILLE, Ontario (The Canadian Press), October 23, 2008 Growing up in a different time, when sports opportunities for women were few and far between, Estelle Ritchie never considered herself an athlete. That is until one day last summer when Ritchie, at the age of 95, tucked a heavy iron ball under her chin and hoisted it into the air, setting a new Canadian masters shot put record and proving you're never too old to take up sports. Ritchie, who would add a national record in the discus later that day, died Saturday in Orangeville, Ont. She was 96. "She was a very independent woman, strong-willed, lots of fun," said her grandson Don. "She will be missed." Don Ritchie, a track and field enthusiast, was browsing through the Canadian masters records when he noticed that none existed in the 95-plus category for shot put or discus. "When I mentioned this to her she was very apprehensive at first," he said. "But she's just the kind of person to say, 'What the heck, I'm going to give it a try and have some fun with it.' And she did." Estelle set the records at the Canadian masters championships July 23, 2007, checking out of her retirement home for the day to travel to the event in Stouffville, Ont. She threw 1.25 metres in the shot put, and 2.33 metres in the discus. "It was an absolute blast, the old-timers that were there were very supportive and enthusiastic. It just ended up being a wonderful thing for her," Don said. "We see our grandmother through our eyes, we see her as getting older and fragile, we want to take care of her. But inside her mind she was younger and more capable and wanted to do stuff. The little kid came out that day. . . even though the 95-year-old body showed up for the event," he said with a chuckle. To compare, the Canadian record in the women's shot put is 17.83 metres, held by Leija Tunks, while Carmen Ionescu holds the Canadian discus record of 62.72. But as her grandson Dave Ritchie pointed out, many of life's greatest accomplishments transcend measurement. "Times are kind of tough and one of the things I think is a thread through what she was able to do is, there's a challenge and there's always a way to overcome it," he said in a phone interview from his home in San Francisco. "No matter how tough things get and no matter how far along we go, there's always something that can be done that we can feel good about, and that's really the challenge we all have for living these days. "That's what I'm pretty impressed with." Don Ritchie, who holds Canadian records indoor hepthatlon and pentathlon, and the decathlon in the 45-49 age class, coached his grandma leading up to the championships. The two worked mainly on the finer points of throwing, such how to hold the implement and how to enter and leave the throwing circle without being disqualified. Estelle walked with a cane, but was not permitted to use it for support inside the circle. "She rested it on her arm, and walked into the circle of her own volition and walked out of the circle," Don said. Estelle, a huge sports fan who was known for taking over the TV in her retirement home when the Toronto Blue Jays or Raptors were playing, had hoped to see her name etched in the world record books. She and Don had begun training - up and down the hallways of her nursing home - for the 100 metres. Nobody holds the world mark in the 95-and-over age class of that event and they hoped she could capture a third record. "She would just do little sprints, short spurts," Don said. "When I say sprints, you have to keep in mind you aren't dealing with a 20-year-old here. So it may not have been readily obvious that she was sprinting to the uneducated eye, but she in fact was doing training for her age category." To someone her age, Don said, 100 metres "is pretty much a marathon." Estelle didn't compete in sports growing up, although she was physically active. Her late husband Donald, an accomplished curler and avid golfer, once tried to teach her to golf. "He took my grandmother in the backyard and there was a brief lesson on how to grip the club and swing the club, and at the end of the lesson my grandfather just carefully collected all the equipment and put it back in the bag and in the house, and golf was never ever discussed again," Don said. "He wasn't one to judge, he absolutely worshipped and loved my grandmother, but he thought, maybe golf just wasn't her thing. "We found track and field was her thing, unfortunately we didn't find out until she was 95." Don cherishes the time at the track he spent with his grandma and knows she did too. "I think it gave her something else to live for in the last couple years of her life," he said. "I think she was very proud of her achievements." Estelle Ritchie is survived by her son John, seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Copyright © 2008 The Canadian Press.