It takes Margaret Hudson a moment to disentangle the lanyards around her BC 55+ Games medals. They’re pretty special, and there are a lot of them: six gold ones, to be exact.
“This year they combined the age groups,” said Hudson, 79, a Port Alberni badminton player. “They not only had a gold medal for the winner but also for combined age groups. I ended up winning six gold medals, which I’ll never do again.”
The Games were held in mid-September in Cranbrook. Hudson won in singles, doubles and mixed categories in the 65–79-year age category.
“I was the oldest one there,” she said.
Her doubles partner was Cindy Simpson from Campbell River, an executive with the 55+ Games. Her male partner in the mixed tourney was Daryl Bissell from Comox.
Hudson capped a winning year with a pair of national medals (gold in ladies doubles and silver in ladies singles—the first time she has lost) and winning master female athlete of the year in the 2017-18 Best of BC awards .
“I’ve won 40 gold Canadian championship gold medals,” she said. She discovered she is sixth in all-time medal winners at the Canadian championships.
Hudson was one of several Alberni Valley athletes who competed in the 55+ Games and won medals.
In slo-pitch, Tony Wedam won silver as a member of the Zone 2 Thrifty Orcas. Wendy Stander won gold as a member of the Zone 7 Coffin Dodgers.
In soccer, the Zone 2 Island Eagles (55+) won gold, featuring Port Alberni players David Timmons, Peter Kurucz, Mitch Fitzgibbon and Joe Komjati. The Zone 2 Classic Eagles (65+) won gold, featuring Port Alberni players Larry Vermette and Jack Cook.
In golf, Don Nicklin won bronze in Men 75-79. LaDonna Knutson won gold in Women 70-74 and Carol Hastings won silver in Women 75-79.
— With files from Elena Rardon, Alberni Valley News