Olympic Games for Seniors in the United States
Posted on July 21, 2023 by Davide Buscemi
The Montvalois Jean-Pierre de Beaumont returns from Pittsburgh in the United States with an 8th place in pickleball at the Olympic Games for seniors, but also with beautiful memories in his eyes.
Jean-Pierre de Beaumont during his match with Roberta Grauer in doubles. (Photo courtesy)
Jean-Pierre de Beaumont, who presented himself in men’s doubles with his sidekick Patrice Bellehumeur, proudly represented the Outaouais during these National Senior Games (official name) which concerns people aged 50 and over from July 7 to 18.
Mr. de Beaumont is pleased with the performance of his tandem. “We finished 8th ahead of the champions from New Mexico, Kansas, New York, Indiana, Idaho and North Carolina. We are the 8th best team in North America out of a total of 23 participants. I don’t know if it’s our Quebec magic potion even if we’re not Gauls. For us, this potion would be maple syrup,” he laughs proudly.
Fact to note: the second in the world among women in this racket sport is called Catherine Parenteau, a 27-year-old Quebecer.
Small “infidelity” to his usual partner, the sexagenarian played a few matches with a lady (Roberta Grauer). “We got eliminated pretty quickly,” he replies.
Jean-Pierre de Beaumont during his cornhole competition. (Photo courtesy)
He also competed in cornhole, a game of skill which consists, by throwing it, in getting a bag filled with corn into the hole in a wooden board. In this category, he won the first game and then lost in the second. And in the consolation round, it was another disappointment.
But it was mainly pickleball that was the reason for his presence in Pennsylvania. Pickleball is a racket sport that somewhat merges the rules of badminton, tennis, and even table tennis.
An event with great fanfare
Mr. de Beaumont recalls the parade of senior athletes in the stadium of the Pittsburgh Pirates (baseball) who met the San Francisco Giants that day. “We were 10,000 athletes, it was really impressive. The baseball game happened, it was interesting to live an American moment,” he recalls.
The French name (Olympic Games for seniors) is misleading since in this competition, there are mainly Americans and Canadians. During the event, Jean-Pierre de Beaumont did not forget his land in Pennsylvania by displaying the Quebec flag.
That said, as with the “real” Olympic Games, in these National Senior Games, there is an opening and closing ceremony (in the Pittsburgh Pirates stadium) and also a bearer of the Olympic flame, which marked him. “I saw the arrival of the flame by a 95-year-old cyclist. This sporting event really exceeded anything I could have anticipated. The rooms were huge. The level of play in pickleball was very high,” underlines the man who carried the Olympic torch in 1988 during the Calgary Olympics while running on a road in the Outaouais.
chocolate and a gift
On the sidelines of the competition, the Montvalois took the opportunity to visit the self-proclaimed world capital of chocolate (Hershey). “In my family, we are fervent chocolate tasters, so I had to go there”, he slips into a laugh.
Altruistic, he also took the opportunity to donate blood about 80 km from Pittsburgh. “I try to make one on each of my trips. It was my 226th donation,” he concludes.
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