Grinning mischievously, Juanjo Urbizu donned a baseball cap, tucked his T-shirt neatly into his sweatpants and adjusted the straps on his elbow pads before positioning his skateboard on the bowl’s edge, ready for the “drop.”
Urbizu’s attempt at a gnarly trick drew stares, because the athlete is a sight to behold, wheeling around the unassuming skate park in northern Spain having just turned 88.
For the cheerful octogenarian, each skating session begins by carefully clearing the square bowl of pebbles to guarantee a smooth ride.
Photo: Reuters
“My bones are special,” he said with a chuckle, between sips on a post-workout glass of white wine at his favorite bar in Bilbao’s working-class Begona neighborhood. “Though I touch wood.”
In a rapidly aging country, where more than half the population is older than 44, the demographic shift is increasingly becoming a topic of national debate.
However, Spain’s generally warm climate is conducive to outdoor activities and studies have proven the importance of physical exercise in bettering the quality of life and reducing the risk of disease for the elderly.
Urbizu took up skateboarding aged 70, partly because it was cheaper than his beloved snow sports.
He said the sport offers an escape from monotony.
“By breaking the routine, you bring something new to everyday life, and that gives you a sense of rest,” he said.
For people his age considering taking up skateboarding, he advises they do it little by little.
“Falls here are truly bad, much worse than in the snow. Anyone who does something like this should wear full protection,” he said.
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Japan yesterday secured a second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup finals appearance with a 2-1 win over 2023 champions Canada, thanks to Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama’s 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Kayla Cross and Rebecca Marino in the qualifying doubles decider. Shibahara and Aoyama powered through the opening set 6-3, breaking twice for a quick 3-0 lead. Cross and Marino hit back in the second, edging it 7-5 to level the match, before the Japanese pair regained control in the third. Canada’s 18-year-old Victoria Mboko edged Shibahara 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5 in a marathon opening clash. Mboko fired eight aces to
DAY OF BLOWOUTS: Elsewhere, the Lakers clinched the third seed in the Western Conference with a 140-109 pounding of the under-strength Houston Rockets The Denver Nuggets on Friday improved their playoff position, with a triple double from Nikola Jokic helping them to a 117-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Serbian put up 26 points, 13 assists and 16 rebounds. The triple-double performance, his 34th this season, ensured that he will finish the regular season as just the third NBA player to average a triple double across an entire season. The win meant the Nuggets improved to 49-32 on the season and gave them a real chance of grabbing fourth place and home-court advantage in the playoffs. Aaron Gordon top scored with 33 points for Denver,
RSS