Diamonds earn medals at Iowa Senior Games

During June, the 31st Iowa Senior Games, an Olympics-type event for adults aged 50 and older, took place in West Des Moines. Approximately 750 athletes competed in more than 30 sports and events, including one Clarion couple who distinguished themselves with first, second, and third place honors: Greg and Donna Diamond.

The couple brought home a total of seven medals at the games: Donna earned bronze in table tennis and singles bowling; together, she and Greg also earned bronze in mixed doubles bowling. In addition, Greg earned the bronze medal in basketball free throw shooting, the silver in “around the world” basketball shooting, and gold medals for both the 800 and 1,500 meter runs. He also had the best of meet times for all ages in those races.

Competing in the Iowa Senior Games was Greg’s idea. He hadn’t even heard of the event until earlier this year, when he came across some information about it in the Live Healthy Iowa program. He had been trying to come up with something fun to do for their 42nd anniversary, and noticed the events started close to the June 21 date.

“We’re going to go here for our anniversary celebration,” he told his wife.

The Diamonds agreed that attending the Iowa Senior Games was one of their most significant and meaningful anniversaries so far. They hope to participate in the games in future years and encourage other local seniors to attend and play also.

For the full story, see the July 6 edition of the Monitor.