{"id":56389,"date":"2013-10-31T23:33:55","date_gmt":"2013-11-01T05:33:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mel-heath-strikes-gold\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T15:53:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T15:53:27","slug":"mel-heath-strikes-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mel-heath-strikes-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"Mel Heath strikes gold"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Huntsman
Huntsman Senior Games gold medalist Mel Heath prepares to launch a discus during a recent practice at Panther Stadium in Cortez.<\/span>Ian MacLaren\/Dolores Star<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Track and field is generally a young man\u2019s undertaking, but good luck explaining that to Mel Heath.<\/p>\n

At age 80, the longtime Dolores resident is taking the world by storm, winning gold medals in the shot put and discus events in the 80-84 age division at the Huntsman World Senior Games in October.<\/p>\n

Known for being the largest multisport event in the world for athletes older than 50, the Huntsman World Games hosts 27 athletic events ranging from badminton to basketball.<\/p>\n

Included is a full slate of track and field events that attracts athletes from countries including Canada, Barbados and even Trinidad and Tobago.<\/p>\n

For Heath, the idea to compete in the Games was borne by accident during a conversation with his son and local resident, Steve Heath.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteve and I got talking about discus, and he knew I used to throw it,\u201d said Mel, a former high school discus thrower. \u201cNext thing I know, I get two discuses in the mail that (Steve) bought for me. He says go out there and throw them, so that\u2019s what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initially, Heath\u2019s training involved short stints throwing the discus, but after a short while, his workout regiment intensified.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made myself some metal plates that are heavier than a normal discus to build my strength,\u201d said Heath. \u201cThe discus is about technique and speed. My 80-year-old feet do not do what my brain tells them to. I\u2019ve had to work on my coordination, which is getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n

After training for about seven months, Heath\u2019s competitive urges kicked in, and before long, he had the Huntsman Senior Games.<\/p>\n

Travelling to St. George, Utah, to compete, Heath was impressed by not only the number of athletes, but also by their diversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stayed in the same motel where a team from Barbados stayed,\u201d said Heath. \u201cI got to talk to people from Sweden, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago and Canada. It was fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon stepping into the discus circle at the start of competition, Heath was nervous, tossing his first two throws out of bounds. His third throw was far better however, traveling 84 feet and 11 inches \u2013 good enough for gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt a little pressure,\u201d said a smiling Heath. \u201cIt was fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with his first-place discus throw, Heath struck gold in the shot put, tossing the 3-kilogram metal sphere 33 feet and 6 inches.<\/p>\n

Asked about the reasons behind his success, Heath, a longtime carpenter, joked that a healthful lifestyle certainly wasn\u2019t to blame.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lord has blessed me with a healthy body,\u201d Heath said. \u201cAs much as I drank and smoked and chased girls, it didn\u2019t hurt me too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the future, Heath stressed that he plans to continue lifting weights throughout the winter in hopes of returning to the Hunstman Senior Games next year.<\/p>\n

In addition to his training, Heath will spend time enjoying life in Dolores with his wife, Eva, his three children when they come to visit, and his numerous grandchildren.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like it here,\u201d said Heath. \u201cWhat I like about living in this area is that a traffic gridlock is two cars at a stop sign. I moved here for the slower lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n

A pillar in the community, a family man and an athlete, Heath\u2019s late-life athletic success will undoubtedly provide inspiration for those of all ages.<\/p>\n

And who knows, with any luck, the ageless and outstanding thrower may add two more gold medals to his collection next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dolores resident wins medals at senior games<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[594],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-56389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-track-and-field"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56389"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62581,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56389\/revisions\/62581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56389"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=56389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}