Year: 2019
Award: Track & Field, Masters
Location/Affiliation: Colorado Springs
- 80+ Age Category
- Eight-Event National Masters Champion
- Senior Games Champion
We’re not sure if the old expression “getting better with age” is actually true, but Master’s Track & Field champion Christel Donley from Colorado Springs is proof that athletes can dominate at any age. Christel is 84 and she competes in the 80-year-old and over master’s division in the javelin, triple jump, high jump, long jump, shot put, and the pentathlon. And, her championship results are eye-popping.
In 2019, she didn’t just complete at the Indoor Masters National Championships, the Outdoor Masters, the Senior Games, and the international North, Central America and Caribbean Region of the World Masters Athletics (NCCWMA) Championships. She brought home titles from all of them!
If our math’s correct, Christel’s haul was eight national championships and three NCCWMA titles, including one in the always challenging and rigorous pentathlon.
You think she’s hard to keep up with? If you’ve ever been to a master’s meet in Colorado, chances are you’ve seen Christel Donley, and not just competing and winning. She’s the meet director! She even helped coordinate the Pasadena Senior Games.