Byline: Fiona Hughes, Vancouver Courier
This feature is called Giving Back, but this week it could also be called Going the Distance.
Tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. at the 2009 B.C. Seniors Games in Richmond, Mary Dopson will make her return to the track to compete in the 100-metre dash against seniors 90 and over.
Dopson is 91. She's even considering taking a shot at the long jump.
Back in 1936 in her hometown of Winnipeg, Dopson (n?e Pitts) won gold and silver medals in Olympic trials in the long jump and the 100-metre sprint. She qualified for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, but as it was the Depression, she was told she'd have to pay her own way if she wanted to go.
Dopson hasn't run competitively since, but her sporting spirit thrives--and it has nothing to do with sports.
A regular volunteer at the Kerrisdale Community Centre where she knits socks, slippers and strawberry-styled tea cozies for the centre to sell, Dopson is an example of how one gives back to the community simply by having the right attitude.
In May 2008, Dopson underwent hip replacement surgery. She has nothing but praise for the doctors, nurses and physiotherapists involved in her care. That experience prompted her to register for the 2009 B.C. Seniors Games.
"I cooperated and did all the exercises I was told to do and I've come out feeling pretty good," she says. "I just want to get across to get out there after a hip operation."
Dopson agrees that "if you don't use it, you lose it." Her attitude to exercise could be applied to everyone--not just people who've had a hip replacement.
"I'm in good shape and that's probably thanks to 28 years of Scottish country dancing," she says with a laugh. "I'm not very good at swimming so I've been going to the track. I walk three quarters of the way, then try to jog and run the last 30 metres. Then I'm all tired out."
Life hasn't always been easy for Dopson, but she won't tell you that. She prefers to focus on the good things in life like the travelling she's done. But one of her favourite memories from her competitive days is when she was out jogging and a 12-year-old girl ran up to her and said: "I saw your picture in the paper last night and I want to do what you do. Can you teach me?"
That was 74 years ago. Not a year has gone by that Dopson and that little girl, now a senior of course, haven't seen each other. That friend, she hopes, and many others, including her two sons, GP, and community centre employees, will be in Richmond to cheer Dopson on.
