Olga rocks it

She holds 26 world records in track and field, and has earned more than 500 medals. She long jumps, high jumps, throws the hammer and sprints the 100m and 200m. Throughout her almost 20-year athletic career, she has been one of the most outstanding competitors on the international circuit.

She is retired Vancouver, B.C. school teacher Olga Kotelko, and she celebrated her 95th birthday last month.

She began her competitive career at age 77.

So please, save the “I’m too old to _________” for someone who will buy that malarkey. Because Olga won’t. And neither will I.

I watched an interview with Olga a few days ago, a rebroadcast of a show Jian Ghomeshi aired back in February. Olga, who is tiny but anything but frail, has the posture, affect and vitality of a woman 30+ years younger. She looks maybe 70 – a well taken-care-of 70 – and has the slightest of old lady tremors in her voice, which you immediately forget once she starts speaking. When people are old and full of energy, we call them “feisty,” which seems to be a kind of left-handed compliment (apologies to south paws on this). Olga isn’t feisty. She is a simple, plain-spoken, no-nonsense spirited and energetic woman who is completely matter-of-fact about her health, strength and resilience, not to mention her astonishing array of awards and medals.

So what’s with Olga? Is she a freak of nature, a woman so genetically blessed, such an outlier that us mere mortals can learn very little from her? Or is she so obsessed with her own health and 24/7 commitment to the counterclockwise life that she clocks long hours of serious gym time every day, loads up on supplements, takes hormones and lives a strict Superfoods diet?

The answer to all those questions is a resounding no.

When scientists studied Olga, looking at her genes and investigating her family history, they found “good” but “not extraordinary” genes. They concluded that she was enjoying the fruits of a lifetime of good choices and circumstances, beginning with an active, rural childhood that has been constantly reinforced by a straight-forward can-do attitude.

What lifestyle choices has she made, an earnest Jian asked her half-way through the interview. “Oh,” said Olga, “I’ve never given much thought to all that. I just wake up and do what I do, day after day.” (Readers of my book, Counterclockwise, will note the similarity of spirit expressed by my great-great grandmother, Old Oldie.)

Not to be deterred, Jian asked how much she exercised, noting this was one of the keys to continued vitality. “I don’t know, said Olga. “I can’t answer that because really I am never idle. I do so much that gets me out of the chair.” Olga gardens, bowls and loves water exercise. Of course she trains, but this is just an add-on to her naturally active life. She watches only an hour of television a day (Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, if you need to know), but views this as important regenerative times as she lies down with her legs elevated at 45-degree angle.

What’s your “secret,” Jian persisted. Olga paused for a moment, as if pondering a question she’d never considered. “Well,” she said, “I keep at it. I enjoy it. And I don’t stop. “

“What if people are shocked when they find out how old you are?” Jian asked. Olga laughed.

“That’s their problem,” she said.