{"id":5413,"date":"2023-07-07T20:44:17","date_gmt":"2023-07-07T13:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=5413"},"modified":"2023-07-07T20:44:17","modified_gmt":"2023-07-07T13:44:17","slug":"katie-couric-on-the-national-senior-games-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=5413","title":{"rendered":"Katie Couric on the National Senior Games 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"drop-cap text-big text-gray\"> <span class=\"drop-cap__first text-dropcap \">T<\/span>his month, thousands of athletes over age 50 will gather in Pittsburgh for Humana\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/nsga.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/nsga.com\/\">National Senior Games 2023<\/a>, where they\u2019ll compete at the highest level in everything from swimming to track and field to basketball to volleyball, among other sports.<\/div>\n<p>Call them inspiring. Call them fierce. Call them powerful. Just please, don\u2019t call them \u201ccute,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/katiecouric.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/katiecouric.com\/\">Katie Couric<\/a>, the legendary journalist who this year is acting as a spokesperson for the games, commonly known as the \u201cSenior Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Couric, sharing the stories of these top-tier athletes isn\u2019t just about the thrill of the competition (which is thrilling indeed\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CWHVGNEDc9l\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CWHVGNEDc9l\/\">clips from the event<\/a> often go viral). It\u2019s about busting myths about what older people are and aren\u2019t supposed to do, and promoting the importance of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/exercises-for-aging\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/exercises-for-aging\/\">being active as you age<\/a>. \u201cI love the message of staying vibrant and healthy,\u201d she says. \u201cParticularly now that I\u2019m 66, so I\u2019m one of the people who is aging and staying very active.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Well+Good spoke to Couric about her own fitness routine, the ageism older athletes face, and the Senior Games competitors she\u2019ll be rooting for.<\/p>\n<h2>The Senior Games athletes inspiring Couric<\/h2>\n<p>Of all the competitors she\u2019s spoken to, a few stories stand out to Couric.<\/p>\n<p>One is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DtbGZ1aIzp0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DtbGZ1aIzp0\">Willie Spuill<\/a>, who was a veteran struggling with myriad health issues when he rediscovered running in his 60s\u2014then swept his track events at his first Senior Games. \u201cThis has opened up a part of him that really needed to be channeled and expressed and shared,\u201d says Couric.<\/p>\n<p>For <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=e0pzmeRsYA4&amp;list=PLPXxOv6jQVST3Rx0LQxxMzGS8oXddlTcl&amp;index=7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=e0pzmeRsYA4&amp;list=PLPXxOv6jQVST3Rx0LQxxMzGS8oXddlTcl&amp;index=7\">DeEtte Sauer<\/a>, learning to swim, and eventually becoming one of the most decorated athletes at the Games (last year she won eight gold medals\u2014the same as Michael Phelps at the Beijing Olympics, Sauer proudly shared with Couric) was key to her recovery from alcoholism.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content \" style=\"\" data-module-init=\"related-content\" data-module-immediate=\"\" v-cloak=\"\">\n<div class=\"related-content__wrapper \" v-cloak=\"\" :class=\"{'is-loaded':isLoaded}\">\n<p> <span class=\"inline pr-6 text-seafoam-dark\">Related Stories<\/span> <\/p>\n<p> <related-content class=\"related-content__links\" parent-article-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/national-senior-games-2023\/\" current-title=\"Why Katie Couric, 66, Loves Pickleball and Believes You\u2019re Never Too Old To Compete in Sports\" current-image=\"GettyImages-1473078231-425x285.jpg\" v-on:parsely-posts-loaded=\"onPostsLoaded\" start-date=\"2023-01-07\" tag=\"div\" inline-template=\"\" url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/national-senior-games-2023\/\" secret=\"w5ztterVB03LGZJLfXS0hf3EvQBuFFIWew9hmVQxthU\" apikey=\"wellandgood.com\" limit=\"3\"> <\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"related-content__card mb-[10px] sm:mb-[20px]\" :class=\"{'related-content__card--full':posts.length === 1}\" v-for=\"(post, key) in posts\"> <a v-on:click.prevent=\"trackLinkGA($event, key)\" :href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/national-senior-games-2023\/post.url\" data-url-source=\"related-content\" class=\"related-content__link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content__card--image bg-tan\" :style=\"{ backgroundImage: 'url(' + post.image_url + ')' }\"> <img :src=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/national-senior-games-2023\/post.image_url\" :alt=\"post.title\"\/> <\/div>\n<p> <\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/related-content> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>And at 94, <a href=\"https:\/\/nsga.com\/a-three-generation-legacy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/nsga.com\/a-three-generation-legacy\/\">Dwight Smith<\/a> will be competing for gold in basketball alongside his son, Terry. His granddaughter, Christie, will be making her Senior Games debut in pickleball.<\/p>\n<div class=\"iframe-container\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Smith Family, 2023 Humana Game Changers | Humana\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/h0ZnhQaV7GQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cYou see the transformation in these folks when they get involved in a sport,\u201d says Couric. \u201cBut sport is only part of it\u2014it\u2019s being with other people.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>How Couric stays active herself<\/h2>\n<p>As a longtime advocate for health and wellness, it\u2019s no surprise that Couric\u2019s own fitness regimen is extensive and ever-growing. An avid tennis and pickleball player (\u201cI was an early pickleball adopter,\u201d she says), she also started Pilates during the pandemic, \u201cbecause sitting so much really made me stiff, and I needed to work on my core strength.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s also a big walker, \u201cespecially because I was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago,\u201d says Couric. \u201cI have to take these aromatase inhibitors, which can sometimes have a negative effect on your bone density, so I do a lot of walking and weight-bearing exercises.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s also working on her balance, conscious of its growing importance later in life to prevent falls. And, like most of us, she&#8217;s trying to actually stretch regularly.<\/p>\n<p>Couric adds that she\u2019s taking some inspiration from the Senior Games athletes she\u2019s interviewed: \u201cI really want to learn how to swim,\u201d she says. \u201cI know how to swim, but I\u2019ve never been able to do it without getting really winded, so I think I must be doing something wrong\u2014I was thinking about taking swimming lessons this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>On ageism and taking older athletes seriously<\/h2>\n<p>Couric says she hasn\u2019t personally encountered any stereotypes about aging, \u201cbecause I defy them on a daily basis and ignore anyone who would underestimate me or try to marginalize me,\u201d she says. \u201cI pity the fool.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But, she acknowledges that such stereotypes absolutely exist. \u201cWe have to fight against the tendency to underestimate older people, or infantilize them,\u201d she says. \u201cI get really mad when people say \u2018Oh, she\u2019s so cute\u2019 about somebody who\u2019s really accomplished. People may not take older people as seriously as they should, but I always think, if you\u2019re lucky, you\u2019re gonna be one.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;We have to fight against the tendency to underestimate older people, or infantilize them.&#8221; \u2014Katie Couric<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Her advice? It\u2019s never too late to start getting active\u2014whether that\u2019s swimming, pickleball, or something else entirely. \u201cDon\u2019t let some sort of theoretical clock or calendar stop you,\u201d she says. \u201cWe continue to be really capable. Sometimes society tells you you\u2019re not, but if you just ignore that and keep going, you can do a lot of wonderful things for the whole duration of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This month, thousands of athletes over age 50 will gather in Pittsburgh for Humana\u2019s National Senior Games 2023, where they\u2019ll compete at the highest level in everything from swimming to track and field to basketball to volleyball, among other sports. Call them inspiring. Call them fierce. Call them powerful. Just please, don\u2019t call them \u201ccute,\u201d &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}