The name Champion Goldy sounds like the name of an Olympian in the making. With such a name, winning gold medals and championships seems like the expected thing.
Goldy has lived up to his name, winning more than 300 medals in the past 28 years. However, he isn’t your typical Olympian. Haddonfield’s Goldy is a 98-year-old retired reverend who didn’t get involved in any competitions or Olympic games until he was 70 years old. He now competes in senior Olympics and competitions all across the United States.
His latest was at the USA Masters Track & Field Competition in Jacksonville, Fla., at the end of July. Goldy walked away with first-place medals from the 100-meter dash, shot put, discus, javelin and weight throw for the 95- to 99-year-old male category.
“It is fun to me. I enjoy it very much and naturally it is a good thing to keep yourself healthy as much as possible,” Goldy said.
Since he was young, Goldy always loved running. He had very impressive times when he was growing up, running the 100-meter dash in 10.62 seconds at the age of 14, but never had a coach to nurture his abilities.
Instead, he pursued a life in the ministry. He went to Dickinson College where he got his degree and then he was all over New Jersey serving in many churches before retiring at the age of 70.
His love for running was renewed after that. Goldy’s interest was piqued when he received a brochure in the mail about the Senior Olympics in New Jersey. He looked at the brochure and said to himself, “I can do that” and sent in his application. Goldy started running around the block for practice, and by the time the Olympics came up, he was ready and won medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter events.
A few years later, Goldy got into the shot put, discus, javelin and weight throw.
Goldy has done very well for himself, winning many medals over the years.
“It doesn’t matter if you win. It is the fact that you can run that counts,” Goldy said.
In July 2014, he made national headlines when he competed in the USA Track and Field Masters Outdoor Championships in Winston-Salem, N.C. He and four other men from across the U.S. — all older than 90 — set world records in the 4×100-meter (2:22.37), the 4×400 (12:41.69) and the 4×800 (28:17.10) that day. Goldy, the oldest in the group, brought home six medals.
At the Penn Relays this year, Goldy did the 100-meter dash in 33.9, which he thought was quite slow. So he worked hard and at the USA Masters Track & Field Competition in Jacksonville, improved his time to 31.8. He would like to lower it further to less than 30 seconds if he could.
This year, Goldy stopped running the 200-meter relay due to it becoming a little too rough. However, he continues to do the 100-meter dash, shot put, discus, javelin and weight throw.
“At 98, you could die any minute. So I thank the good Lord for every minute I have a chance, that I am alive and that I can do it. And if I am setting a record, I don’t plan for it, it is just there. I enjoy doing it. I have fun; it is healthy,” Goldy said.
Today, Goldy can be seen training and practicing for the senior Olympics and other competitions.
His ultimate goal, which he has had for the past 10 years, is to run the 100-meter when he is 100 years old at the Penn Relays.
“So many people come up to me, saying ‘I hope I live as long as you do and be able to do what you do well,’ or ‘boy, if I could keep myself healthy and do what you do, I can reach the same age as you.’
“And it is nice to set that example. [But] I don’t have any feeling that I am 98, doesn’t make any sense to me. It is just everyday stuff that I am doing, having fun and going with it from there. But then the records say I’m 98,” he said with a laugh.
Despite all of Goldy’s accomplishments, that isn’t what he is most proud of. His favorite accomplishment has been working in churches and building them to be better.
“They were better when I left. There were more people attending and people making decisions to learn more about the Lord,” Goldy said.
Goldy’s next competition is coming up soon at the New Jersey Olympics on Sept. 11, 12 and 13 in Woodbridge.
