90-year-old St. Paul man wins medals in National Senior Games

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Some people take it easy when they get older, but age isn't stopping one man from going for gold.

A 90-year-old from St. Paul, Minnesota is competing in the equivalent of the Senior Olympics and he's already won a few medals.

Lowery Smith is in Albuquerque, New Mexico this week competing in the National Senior Games. Already, he's won gold in racquetball in singles and doubles and bronze in shotput. Wednesday, he will be competing in discus throwing.

"The comment I often make is, ‘If you show up, good things happen. If you don’t show up, nothing happens,’” said Smith.

Last year, his athletic accomplishments and drive were even featured in a Blue Cross Blue Shield commercial.

"The thing I like about the competition is you can compete with other people, but really the competition is with yourself," said Smith in the commercial. 

But after two knee replacements, Smith didn't always have a positive outlook on aging.

"When I turned 85, I went into a really deep depression,” he said. “It felt like I was in a dark room and I had never done anything worthwhile my entire life and I never would."

It was then that he found the National Senior Games.

"I still don’t know where the idea came from but I said, ‘I’m dreaming of getting into the Senior Olympics,’" said Smith.

He says he trains at least three to four days a week and plays racquetball at a local gym on Fridays.

“I play racquetball at the LA Fitness in St. Paul on Fridays and I get totally harassed for being so old,” he said. “But it’s the harassment that I go for.”

Lowery is also quite the adventurer. He's climbed Kilimanjaro, rafted the Grand Canyon and traveled the world.