Rosalia Gioia of Albertson recently participated in the 2003 National Senior Games Summer Olympics held at Hampton Roads, VA. Competing in her age group against representatives from across the country and Canada, she returned home with awards for track and field and tennis. She also was a player on a softball team representing New York State.

Gioia placed sixth in the high jump and javelin events, seventh in the 100 meters finals and received an eighth-place award for the long jump. She also finished among the top 10 in the shot put and discus events.

Although Gioia enjoys competing in track and field, tennis is her favorite sport, thus she was very pleased to have reached the quarter final round before losing to number two in the tournament from Colorado. She has competed in every National Senior Olympics since 1989 and enjoyed the two weeks spent in Virginia where she renewed friendships with competitors from across the nation and shared many happy and exciting moments with her New York teammates.

The mission of the National Senior Games Association is to promote a healthy lifestyle for older men and women through competition in more than 12 sports. Age groups are in five-year increments, thus making the competition fair for all. More than 14,000 seniors participated in this year's event - each having qualified prior thereto in their home state Senior Olympics. The oldest competitor at this year's nationals was a male swimmer aged 101 - and, yes, there were even several entries in the 95+ age category for the 100-meter race.

"It is inspiring to see the enthusiasm, zeal and dedication of so many older people who continue to participate in sports and maintain a high degree of fitness for their age," said Gioia, a retired physical education teacher and coach at New Hyde Park Memorial High School. Gioia keeps in shape by officiating lacrosse and field hockey for the Nassau County interscholastic program and by playing tennis and softball as often as she can.