A quarter-century after his first Senior Olympics competition, Westminster resident Donald Joy will be inducted into the Maryland Senior Olympics Hall of Fame.
Joy, thought to be the first person from Carroll to be inducted, is 80 years old and he continues to compete in power sports just as he has since he was 55. The ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Vollmer Center on the grounds of Cylburn Arboretum in Baltimore.
An avid weightlifter, Joy's main events have been the shot put and discus throws and team softball tournaments. He has also competed in the standing long jump, the 1-Mile Recreational Walk, and the softball throw over the years.
Lately, according to Joy, he has been focusing on the throwing events. This year Joy said he competed in five throwing events, which included the shot put, discus, hammer throw, weight throw, and the football throw.
One of Joy's favorite Senior Olympics memories, he said came when he set records in his age group.
"At 70, I threw the discus 122 feet - a record at the time," he said.
For many years, Joy competed on the Maryland Senior Olympic softball team. Around age 70, Joy said he had the opportunity to travel to Pittsburgh with his team and won the national championship in his age group. Joy also traveled to Disney World and Arizona with his team, but said he had to quit playing softball a few years ago because of knee pain.
Joy said he has amassed "around 100 first- or second-place medals" from the Maryland Senior Olympics in his continuing career.
However, the Senior Olympics is not the only competition where Joy has been more than successful. Joy has also become a record-setting weight lifter after the age of 50. Joy says he began weightlifting some 30 years ago when a workout space opened at his job, making it "convenient to lift during lunch or after work."
That hobby turned into a passion and has helped him in Senior Olympics events.
"Weightlifting," Joy said, "makes me stronger in throwing events."
In total, Joy said he has competed in more than 100 weightlifting competitions, amassing more than 100 trophies. In September of this year, Joy set not only a Maryland state bench press record, but a national record with a lift of 281 pounds.
"When I was 70, I could do a 370-pound bench press," Joey recalled, before adding, "I can lift more now than when I was 55."
Joy still regularly works out at 80, but he makes it a family affair.
"My son likes to work out with me," he said, noting that they often lift at Gold's Gym.
Joy said there have been many instances when he and his son have been in the same weightlifting competition. There have also been times, according to Joy, when he, his son, and grandson - three generations - "have been in the same car headed to the same competition."
When asked how long he will he continue to lift and compete in the Maryland Senior Olympics, Joy said simply, "I don't have any plans to stop."
Joy is not only an annual Maryland Senior Olympics competitor, a Carroll County Sports Hall of Fame member, a record-setting weightlifter, but a role model to his family. When passing on a book about lifting to Joy, his son inscribed on the inside, "To a great trainer, competitor, and father." Joy has certainly lived up to all three.
