Red Deer's Mark Becker has only been a track and field athlete for two years but recently made strides in competing against some of the world's best athletes.
The 60-year-old retired teacher from Regina, Sask. who's called Central Alberta home since 2022, made the trip to Gothenburg, Sweden to compete in the 2024 World Masters Athletics Championships.
From Aug. 13 to 25 he competed in six different throwing events in the 60-64 age category including javelin, shot put, discus, hammer, weight, and the throws pentathlon.
Even though he didn't reach the podium, Becker recorded some new personal bests and got the experience of competing on the international stage.
"I had some good throws but the experience was incredible," he said.
The World Masters Athletics Championships is an open championship, which means to compete in the event you don't have to qualify and anyone can enter.
Becker explained in his events the top eight advance to the finals, which he did not do but placed ninth in javelin with a 42.97-metre throw.
Becker also got fifth in the throws pentathlon, scoring points based on five different throws throughout one day.
"That one's starting to sink in because I did not expect to do that well with this field but I had a nice consistent day and I threw far," he said.
This was the first time Becker had competed in the World Masters Athletics Championships but had previously competed in the Canadian championships twice over the last two years.
After having some success at the national level, he thought he'd give it a try on the international stage.
"I hadn't thought there was such a thing but there was. My rankings were good enough to go to Canadians but I got world experience to see and compete against the best throwers in the world," he added.
Generally, he usually competes locally with the Red Deer Titans track and field club. He's coached by Max Legault, who's the Titans head coach, and Emily Olson.
"I'm three times older than anyone else on the team but I train with those guys and we have three meets I go to in the winter," Becker said.
Becker has competed in many different sports throughout his life but took up track and field because of its longevity. While still living in Regina, he volunteered at a track and field event and he saw a 100-year-old woman competing in javelin which inspired him to try to compete for as long as he could.
He hopes to continue to compete into his 80s and 90s.
"If they can do it, I should be able to do this too," he said. "This is something that I enjoy the atmosphere of the people, the camaraderie, and the athletes are supportive. The throwers are like that too even if it's someone I'm directly competing with.
In his first taste of competition in 2022 he competed in shot put which was his first ever event. It was in that moment he got a taste of what the throwing community was like.
He had no coach, and after his second throw another competitor stopped him and gave him some technical advice. Becker was stunned but was thankful for the advice.
"Make no mistake, these folks are competitive but the vast majority want everyone to safely throw far. Then I was hooked. And where can you throw heavy things as hard as you want," he said.
"I think it would be great to continue competing. Do I want to go to the world championships every two years? No, that was exhausting but to keep competing and training for something like this? Yes, and I really enjoy it."
