Most athletes make their track debut during childhood or their teenage years. Alta Pierson took a slightly longer route to the start line.
At 100 years old, the Utah resident entered the first track meeting of her life at the Huntsman World Senior Games in St George.
She completed four events across the three day athletics programme, collecting four age group gold medals and setting a Games record over 50 metres.
Her performances included a 1:06.61 sprint, three throwing events and one rather convincing reminder that there is no compulsory retirement age for trying something new.
A First Race And A Games Record
Pierson lined up for the women’s 50m at Greater Zion Stadium on Tuesday October 6th.
Competing in a combined race containing women from several older age categories, she completed the distance in 1:06.61 while running into a headwind measured at one metre per second.
Huntsman World Senior Games organisers announced the performance as a new Games record for the women’s 100 to 104 category.
Footage from the race shows Pierson moving carefully but independently towards the finish as spectators and volunteers encourage her from beside the track.
There was no dramatic sprint finish and no need for one. A first athletics race at 100 years old already supplied all the drama required.
Three Throws Bring Three More Gold Medals
Pierson did not limit her debut to a single appearance on the track.
She also competed in the shot put, discus and javelin, recording a mark in all three events.
Her longest throw came in the javelin, where she reached 4.03m. She recorded 3.79m in the discus and 1.84m in the shot put.
Those performances gave her gold medals in each discipline, taking her total from the meeting to four.
It is important to place those medals in their proper context. Pierson was the only listed competitor in the women’s 100 and over category, so she was not defeating a large field of fellow centenarians.
The achievement lies in entering four events, recording a valid mark in each and completing a competitive sprint at an age when very few people would consider stepping onto a track.
Her Son Convinced Her To Compete
Accounts shared from the event indicate that Pierson had never previously taken part in a track meeting and entered after encouragement from her son.
That makes her choice of events particularly striking. Instead of selecting one discipline for a ceremonial appearance, she attempted a sprint and all three major throws available to her.
The Games bring together athletes aged 50 and above, with no qualifying standard required. Competitors range from lifelong athletes to people taking up sport much later in life.
Pierson has now carried the latter category to its furthest possible conclusion. Her first recorded athletics competition arrived after her 100th birthday.
She had also been entered for the 100m and 400m on Wednesday. No times for either event had appeared on the published results pages by Thursday morning.
Following A Remarkable Masters Tradition
Pierson is not the first woman to begin competing on the track at 100.
Julia Hawkins, known as “Hurricane”, began sprinting after reaching the same age and continued competing until she was 105. She became the first woman to record a 100m performance in the 105 and over category before her death in 2024 at the age of 108.
Stories such as those of Hawkins and Pierson occupy an unusual corner of athletics. Their times cannot be separated from their age, but comparing them with younger competitors rather misses the point.
The sight of a centenarian reaching a finish line carries its own value. It presents movement and competition as things that do not automatically disappear from life once a particular birthday has passed.
Pierson did not need to run quickly to create a memorable moment. She only needed to begin.
One hundred years after she entered the world, Alta Pierson entered her first track meeting. She left with four gold medals and her name beside a Games record.
