Canadian History Ehx - Craig Baird
Olga Kotelko may be the greatest athlete Canada has ever produced.
She held 30 world records and won over 750 gold medals.
What is most incredible, is she did it all after the age of 70.
This is the story of a legendary athlete!

📸 Patrik Giardino

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Jun 24 at 1:06pmWeb
Show threadCanadian History Ehx - Craig Baird4d ago
Olga Kotelko was born on March 2, 1919 in Smuts, Saskatchewan. When she was 22, she graduated from Saskatoon Normal School and taught at a one-room school near Vonda, Saskatchewan.
After her marriage broke up, she raised her two children.
After she retired in 1984, she took up playing softball. When she gave up her position to a 55-year-old, she started in track and field. She chose that because she had developed her running and throwing skills in softball.

📸 Patrik Giardino

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Show threadCanadian History Ehx - Craig Baird4d ago
In 1999 at the World Association of Veteran Athletes World Championships, she broke two world records and won six gold medals. When she was 90, she won the hammer throw with a 5.64 metre throw. She also won the 100 metre race with a time of 23.95 seconds.
She carried the Olympic torch in 2010.
That year, she held 23 world records.
Competing in her 90s, she often exceeded the performance of athletes 20 years younger than her.

📸 Alex Rotas

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Show threadCanadian History Ehx - Craig Baird4d ago
Due to her athletic abilities, she was studied by doctors at the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University. It was found that at the age of 91, her muscle fibers were lacking in the mitochondrial decay that was expected in people over 65.
By the time she had reached her mid-90s, she had won over 750 gold medals in her age category and held over 30 world records.
She held every track and field world record she attempted in her age group.

📸 Patrik Giardino

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Show threadCanadian History Ehx - Craig Baird4d ago
In the spring of 2014, she competed in three events, in the rain, at the Langley Pacific Invitational in Langley, BC.
One week later on June 24, 2014, she died at the age of 95 from an intracranial hemorrhage.
Olga outlived her eldest daughter and all of her 10 siblings. She was survived by her daughter Lynda and two grandchildren.
She was inducted into the Canadian Masters Athletic Hall of Fame.

📸 Pierre Obendrauf

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Show threadCanadian History Ehx - Craig Baird4d ago
I hope you enjoyed that look at the life of Olga Kotelko.

If you enjoy my Canadian history content, you can support my work with a donation at 👇
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*sources in next post*

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Craig Baird is creating Canadian history content

Hello!Bringing Canadian history to people is my full-time job through my podcast Canadian History Ehx, and on social media.I love Canadian history and I share my passion with my listeners and viewers.

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Show threadCanadian History Ehx - Craig Baird4d ago
*sources*

CBC: Olga Kotelko, masters track and field star, dead at 95
Chatelaine: 95-year-old Olga Kotelko's best anti-aging secrets
Late Bloomer: https://buff.ly/q19KdL5
Vancouver Sun: Masters track legend Kotelko dead at 95
Canadian Running: Olga Kotelko dies at 95 with 34 world records