After not participating in track and field for most of his life, Mission’s David Dickey has literally jumped into excellence in the sport.
Dickey competed in his first BC Athletics Masters (age 35 plus) track and field meet last year at the age of 61. He joined the Greyhounds Masters Track and Field Club out of Surrey – the premier masters club in Canada – and his coaches soon realized that Dickey was a talented sprinter, hurdler and jumper.
Dickey was chosen as the Greyhounds Masters Track and Field Club’s most improved male athlete for 2016, and improved on several of his events from 2015.
Dickey improved his time for the 100 metre, 200 m and 100 m hurdles (which he improved on four different races). He also added 18 centimetres to his long jump from 2015, and improved his pole vault by 20 cm during from last year.
He competed in four indoor meets in 2016, including the Canadian Masters Indoor Championships in Toronto in November, where he won medals in all six of his events.
At the BC Masters Indoor Championships in February, Dickey won gold medals in the 60 m, 400 m, triple jump and high jump, as well as silver medals in the 200 m, 60 m hurdles and long jump.
He also ran on a team with three other sprinters which set a Canadian indoor relay record in the M 55 4 x 400 m relay.
At the Harry Jerome Indoor Meet, he teamed up with three younger athletes and the team set a B.C. indoor record in the M 45 4 x 200 m relay. He also won four gold medals at the Percy Williams Indoor Meet in March.
During the outdoor track and field season, Dickey competed in seven meets and won 31 individual medals while improving on his personal bests on eight different occasions.
At the BC Masters Outdoor Championships in Kelowna in July, he won six medals, including gold in the 100 m hurdles, high jump, triple jump, long jump and pole vault.
At the Americas Masters Games in Vancouver in late August, he finished in the top seven in all six of his events, including winning a bronze medal in the pole vault.
It’s not only on the track where Dickey excels, as the day after competing at the Americas Masters Games, he competed in the inaugural International Skating Union’s adult figure skating competition in Vancouver. Despite legs weakened after four days of competing in track and field, and feeling “dizzy,” he won the gold medal in the men’s gold free skate.
For more information on the Greyhounds, visit greyhoundstrack.com.
