2008 Events --> August 4, 2008

Senior Olympics return to the Downriver region; Wayne County partners with the city of Trenton in 2008

Trenton - Wayne County and the city of Trenton are hosting this year's annual Downriver Senior Olympics, a celebration of health and vitality for athletes over age 50.

Downriver Senior Olympics is a tradition dating to the 1980s. Each downriver community has hosted the event, with Wayne County taking on the duties of co-hosting when Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano first took office in 2003. Several hundred senior athletes typically participate in the games.

Wayne County in recent years took the Senior Olympics franchise to the western suburbs. The western Wayne Senior Olympics quickly gained in popularity. The event later this month will be held in Westland.

Senior Olympics have largely focused on friendly competition, but also have opened the door many seniors into their eighties - and even nineties. There are also parents and children competing together in events ranging from Frisbee tossing to cooking and card playing. Medals are awarded at a luncheon following the week-long Olympics.

Senior facts:

36.3 million - The number of people 65 and over in the United States on July 1, 2004. This age group accounts for 12 percent of the total population. Between 2003 and 2004, 351,000 people moved into this age group

4.9 million - The number of people 85 and over in the United States on July 1, 2004

86.7 million - Projected population of people 65 and over in the year 2050. People in this age group would comprise 21 percent of the total population at that time

147 percent - Projected percentage increase in the 65-and- over population between 2000 and 2050. By comparison, the population as a whole would have increased by only 49 percent over the same period
Source: seniorjournal.com

Event Photos (Click to enlarge)