The 55-Plus B.C. Games are in the books, and participants had a blast going for gold in Nanaimo.
The final sports and games competitions concluded Saturday, Sept. 13, marking the end of four days of events in Nanaimo, Duncan, Nanoose Bay and Parksville.
PHOTOS: Athletes putting in podium performances at 55-Plus B.C. Games in Nanaimo
PHOTOS: Athletes getting to the next level at the 55-Plus Games in Nanaimo
PHOTOS: 55-Plus B.C. Games competition underway in Nanaimo
Some of the final medals earned were at the hockey rinks, where the medal round was held all day. One of the closest finals was the 60-plus women's division, in which the Zone 3 Crush defeated the Zone 1 Adanacs 1-0 at the Nanaimo Ice Centre. Crush team captain Christine Gardiner from Surrey said her team, after winning gold a year ago, knew it would be a challenge to try to defend that title.
"It's always exciting to come out on top at the end…" she said. "We were just really pleased to have come and accomplished what we had hoped to do."
She said the players were excited about the opportunity to compete at the 55-Plus Games, pointing out that at their age, they tend to play in leagues filled with a lot of younger players.
"It is nice to appreciate that at this age, everybody is still out there doing what they can and enjoying the sports that they love," she said.
On the adjacent rink at the NIC, the Zone 4 Trojans got past Zone 1 in the 55-plus division by a 6-1 score. One of the team captains, Dave Ritchie from North Vancouver, said the players were in it for the team, weren't worried about individual stats, and were out to have a good time and play together.
"[Winning gold] just means we successfully put together a good group of guys who played hard and won the last game," he said.
It was Ritchie's first 55-Plus B.C. Games experience, and said he was motivated by some of the older players on the Trojans who have been participating for a few years.
"We hear about the fun times they've had and all the competition and we were like, 'hey, let's put a team together now that we're 55,'" he said.
The last day of track and field at Rotary Bowl stadium also had its share of first-time 55-Plus Games competitors, including Matthew Stewart from Nanaimo, who won five gold medals and one silver this week while registering numerous personal bests. He finished the competition with a 7.15-second sprint to gold in the 50-metre dash after previously winning gold in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m power walk relay and taking silver in the 400m.
He trained with the Nanaimo Track and Field Club in his youth and got back into the sport a couple of years ago. There was no track and field competition at the 2024 55-Plus Games in Salmon Arm, but it was back on the itinerary for 2025 in Nanaimo.
"Basically as soon as we found that out, I was like, OK, this is my goal – compete in my hometown, compete with family with me and my friends," he said.
He was proud of Zone 2's performances in the relays, which had a little bit of extra team spirit, he said.
"It was more than just throwing bodies from Zone 2 together, it was actually my teammates that I train with, so it was amazing."
Another first-time participant on the track was Marty Hawes, another sprinter. He said he was inspired by another games competitor in his hometown of Richmond who was spotlighted in the community newspaper.
"He was in there and he had five gold medals and he's the same age as me, so I said, 'why can't I compete?'"
Hawes comes to Vancouver Island every year to camp, so it was a good fit to come and do it again, run in his first 55-Plus Games, and end up with a pair of gold medals in the 100m dash and 50m dash.
"My first-ever medals and I got two of them," he said.
Pickleball was another one of the sports competitions that went well into the afternoon on the last day of the games, since so many participants signed up to play this year. It meant a challenging path to the medal round, but one of the players who prevailed to win gold was Darwin Horning from Port Alberni.
"A medal isn't all that important to me, it's the fun and the camaraderie of it and just meeting new people which is what pickleball's all about," he said. "And just having good games, and we've had those."
The first-time 55-Plus B.C. Games competitor said he wanted to be a part of the games since he plays pickleball in Nanaimo fairly often and has friends who were volunteering at the games, so he figured it would be a fun experience.
Asked about the organization of the Nanaimo 55-Plus B.C. Games, Horning said the games were fantastic.
"I've been to a lot of tournaments in different sports but they did a really good job here," he said. "It was top notch."
Other participants expressed similar sentiments, praising the work of the host committee and also their experiences with Nanaimo's accommodations, restaurants, volunteerism and general friendliness.
"The opening ceremonies were incredible, I really loved them, and the dance and the flag ceremony. Top notch. They did an outstanding job," said the hockey player Gardiner. "They had lots of volunteers out, they're lots of wonderful, helpful people and we've really enjoyed our time here. It's been fantastic."
