INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — Hundreds of Team USATF masters track and field athletes have made their way to Tampere, Finland to compete on the world stage in the World Masters Athletics Championships Tampere 2022. Team USATF has tallied 92 medals in the first six days of competition and looks to add many more to that list as competition continues through July 10. On day one of competition, Team USATF brought home four medals, including pairs in the hammer throw and the 5000m race walk. In the hammer throw, Gloria Krug (W90) and Carol Finsrud (W65) each struck gold with throws of 15.15m and 35.65m, respectively. Kathy Frable (W75) and Marianne Martino (W70) both earned bronze in the 5,000m race walk to add to the first day’s tally. Gloria Krug (W90) won her second gold in as many days, winning the shot put in 5.09m. In addition to Krug’s title, Team USATF tallied 10 additional golds on day two, as well as a pair of team cross country wins (M75 and W35). Golds abounded in the 100m, with four men and two women winning their age group. For the men, Kenton Brown ran 13.77 to win the M75 age group, Michael Kish (M70) ran 12.66, Allan Tissenbaum (M60) ran 11.90 and Dave Gibbon (M55) ran 11.55 for the final gold in the men’s 100m. Emma McGowan (W50) and Cynthia McNamee (W45) joined the winners ranks in the women’s 100m with times of 12.90 and 12.48. Team USATF was similarly successful in cross country, with Robert Qualls (M70), Lynne Hurrell (W85), Richard Lee (M60), and April Lund (W35) each securing gold for their age groups. The team brought home six silver and four bronze medals on day two. Team USATF added four golds to the count on day three, including a major win by Lynne Hurrell with her 5:12.85 finish in the 800m (W85). Alston Brown (M70) added to the team’s 800m success with a 2:29.22 win. Gloria Krug continued to dominate the women’s 90 age division in the throws, heaving the weight 6.79m for her third gold. The final gold of the day came as Scott Eriksson took the men’s 60 title with a 15.86m throw in the shot put. Highlighted by Tami Graf establishing a new world W85 record* of 2932 points, Team USATF pushed the gold count to 25 on day four as they picked up four more on the day. Brian Hankerson (M60) added gold in the long jump with a leap of 5.37m and Mark Husted (M35) ran 14:43.27 to win the 5,000m. Doug Torbert (M70) secured the final gold of the day with his 15.14m toss in the men's shot put. Team USATF delivered another 10 gold medals on day five, with nine individual champions and one team title in the W70 10k road race walk. Gloria Krug won her fourth gold medal of the competition, tossing the javelin 8.88m to win the W90 division, and Lynne Hurrell (W85) launched a 7.13m throw to add a second javelin gold. In the women’s 200m, Cynthia McNamee (W45) and Emma McGowan (W50) each stood atop the podium with runs of 25.91 and 26.36, respectively. The men added two gold medals of their own in the 200m with David Gibbon winning the men’s 55 division in 23.96 and Michael Kish securing his second gold in 27.12 seconds. The women’s 5,000m squad concluded the day with three more golds - Tami Graf ran 48:46.84 to win the women’s 85 division, Michelle Rohl won the women’s 55 in 18:18.67, and Melissa Dock ran 16:55.91 to take the title in the women’s 40 division. Jody Shepard kicked off day six with the first of seven gold medals as he led Roman Marenin in a Team USATF 1-2 finish in the men’s 35 400m hurdles with a time of 54.47. Carol Finsrud and Gloria Krug pushed the gold count up even more when they each won titles in the discus. Finsrud launched the disc 32.78m for her second gold and Krug threw 11.93m for her fifth. Lisa Edwards was dominant in her women’s 400m hurdles victory, running 1:09.45 to cruise to victory by over eight seconds. A pair of wins in the 300m followed, as Damon Blakemore (M60) ran 43.72 and Thad Wilson (M70) ran 50.29 to move the day’s gold tally to six. Tami Graf won her third gold medal in as many days when she ran 1:29.53 in the 200m hurdles, effectively lowering her own world women’s 85 record* in the event.
*Pending verification A full list of results can be found here. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #USATF.