The 2013 World Masters Games held in the 2006 Olympic city of Torino, Italy from August 2-11. I became aware of the event a year ago from some badminton friends who were trying to organize a team of players to go over to compete in the team badminton event and individual events. As I researched more into the event I realized that it offered 30 different sport activities including Cycling, Athletics, Triathlon, Duathlon and Swimming. Participants are allowed to compete in 3 different sports and up to 5 disciplines in each sport. The event usually draws over 20,000 athletes from around the world to compete.
I decided to enter to compete in the triathlon, 800mFR, 400mFR, 200mFR, badminton team event, badminton singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. A lot of events but I knew there might be a chance that one of them I would not be able to compete in due to scheduling conflicts and event locations. I arrived in Torino with my bike a few days before the start of the games. When I arrived every competitor had to go through an accreditation process which involved providing a medical certificate and proof of health insurance. After this I decided to find out if I could also enter in the Duathlon which was on August, 3 as it was listed as a discipline of the sport of triathlon. After talking to many organization people including the head of the organization committee with a very helpful english/italian interpreter volunteer, I was finally allowed to compete int he duathlon. The following day I rode my bike over to the “games center” where the technical meeting for the duathlon would be and I was told that I would not be able to use my bike or wheels in the race.:( Apparently in Italy the triathlon and duathlon races are draft legal and so my time trial bike along with my trispoke and disc would not be allowed in the race. This was quite frustrating to me as I had checked the website several times and very little information was provided on the site. The only email contact was the general information for the games which I emailed several times and never received a response. It was quite confusing for me to understand why the World Games wouldn’t follow the ITU standards for racing. I have never raced draft-legal in my 9 years of racing. In any event there were enough people that showed up with time trial bikes that they changed the race to non-draft….phew, didn’t have to rent a bike!
Duathlon 5km, 20km, 2.5km (August, 3)
The women were all to race together. The weather was quite warm (36 degrees) and I had been staying on the fourth floor of a B & B for the last few nights so I was feeling quite de-hydrated to start. I had been trying to hydrate but it was quite tough as the weather had been so warm and I felt like I was sweating all the time! Lol The gun went off and I soon found myself at the front of the pack. I asked myself if I was starting off too fast but I my breathing was good and I decided I wasn’t going too hard. The course was 2 loops of 2.5km. I was in the lead for the first lap with a small group following my pace from a little distance. I lead most of the second lap as well and 2 women just passed me before heading into transition. I felt pretty good about the run. Transition went well and I headed out on the bike course. The course was a fairly technical 5km loop with some steady climbs…not great for a time trial bike! I wish more information had been posted on the website and perhaps I would have brought my road bike. Unfortunately, my back wheel also started rubbing on my frame which I really seemed to notice. I biked the best I could and tried not to lose too much ground. I got off the bike and ran a solid 2.5km good enough to win gold in my age group. It was a nice way to start the games.:)
Swimming (August, 6 & 7)
Due to scheduling of the badminton team event I was only able to participate in the 4oom FR and 200m FR. The first race was the 400mFR and I was scheduled in the first race and first heat of the day as I didn’t submit a time. It was my first time at the beautiful 50m pool. The schedule and organization of everything was new so I know I wasn’t thinking enough about my race but more about getting to the starting block and to the pre-calling and calling areas on time. I definitely went out too hard and suffered around the 150-200m mark but then managed to get my pace back and finish okay but not after losing a lot earlier on. I was quite disappointed in myself but I was determined to race better the next day in the 200mFR. My goal was to redeem myself and at least swim to my ability. I’m a good swimmer but I wasn’t a competitive swimmer when I was younger so I knew a podium position was not likely but I wanted to at least do my race. Again, I had the first heat start because I didn’t submit a time. My preparation for this race was much better. I thought about my dive start, staying under the water longer before surfacing, solid turns with streamline push offs and getting into my pace early and setting myself up for finish strong. I started the race well and I did most of what I focused on doing and had set myself up for having a strong 50m finish but my body was tired from the previous 5 days of events so I didn’t have that extra gear but overall much happier with the race.:)
Badminton (August, 4 – 9)
The team badminton event included playing 3 men’s doubles, 3 women’s doubles and 3 mixed doubles events against another team. It’s a fun event and there usually a lot of playing (2-3 matches). The location was in an area that was quite warm. This was the first time I really struggled with being able to hold onto my grip because I was sweating so much. This was primarily an issue in my singles events but I did notice it in the doubles events as well. My badminton team received a bronze medal and I also won a bronze medal in the singles and women’s doubles events with a fourth place finish against some very tough teams in the mixed doubles event.
Triathlon 750m, 24km, 5km (August, 11)
On the website the course showed a triangular 750m swim in the river. Upon arriving I learned that due to unsafe water conditions that the swim would be in a pool! In 9 years of racing, I’ve never raced a pool triathlon – this will be new! Lol There were 5 women in my lane for the swim. It was discussed amongst our lane what order we should go in. The first two women said they would swim 10mins and then the third said 11 minutes so I said okay I guess I’m fourth as the fifth racer was fairly new to triathlon. It was definitely a different experience racing in the pool. The swimmer in front of me I later found out was having difficulty with water in her goggles and with the choice of clothing she was wearing in the pool. The top swimmers in my lane were fast and the fifth was stopping in the middle of the lane so it was tough for me to make decisions as to where and when to pass. Anyway, I made it out of the water about a minute slower than I had expected but thankfully I wasn’t one of the several people who wiped out on the slippery floor while running the length of the pool to get out into transition. Out on the course I was moving well at the beginning and then mid way through my tire started rubbing on my frame again and so I just tried to get the bike done and off onto the run. I lost too much time on the bike to catch up to the third place girl in my age group and so I ran the best I could to a fourth place finish to complete my week in Torino. I was definitely a little tired entering this race but I gave it all I had that day and was ready for a time of celebration and rest afterwards for a few days!:)
Overall, my games experience was great. I had a great week of lots of physical activity, competition, experiencing European culture and meeting friendly people from around the world. I was happy to have a lot of events to compete in. I may have been disappointed if I had just planned to enter the sprint triathlon but it was nice to have the duathlon, badminton and swimming as well. I would strongly encourage people to participate and to enter more than one sport if they are able to. Next World Masters Games is in Auckland, New Zealand, 2017. Who’s in??:)
