Sandy Zimmerman is an award-winning teacher, coach, athlete, and motivational speaker best known for her 10 appearances on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior. After 23 years as a teacher and coach, she made history as the first mother to complete the course and hit the buzzer. A former Gonzaga University basketball player and national judo champion, Sandy was inducted into the National Physical Education Teacher Hall of Fame in 2022. Sandy is a TEDx speaker and has taken her message of strength and perseverance to audiences on The Kelly Clarkson Show, CNN, E! News, The Huffington Post, and Women’s Health. Through her book Get Out of the Car and her motivational speaking, she encourages people of all ages to push past obstacles, challenge their limits, and pursue what once seemed impossible.

You can purchase her book and learn more about her at https://www.sandyzimmerman.com/

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Martin Coe has been an athlete since he can remember. At the age of four, his father introduced him to sports in the backyard with a wiffle ball and bat. What began with baseball, football, and basketball evolved into a lifelong passion for competition, learning, and improvement.

A standout tennis player for more than 46 years, Martin competed at many levels and was the #1 ranked player in CO for consecutive years. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, he auditioned to play tennis at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where he played #1 singles & doubles for three years, culminating in his 2011 induction into the MSU Athletic Hall of Fame. Nowadays, he has shifted many of his skills to the pickleball court.

Martin has also built a remarkable career as a Systems Engineering expert, helping design and manufacture medical technologies including pulse oximeters, ventilators, hemodialysis machines and a robotic gene-sequencing system that made the Human Genome Project possible. Whether solving engineering challenges or studying an opponent's game on the court, Martin believes success comes from the same closed-loop process: observe, understand, learn, apply, adapt, and keep improving.

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Elsbeth Padia has been a force in track and field for 19 years. Born in Switzerland when women’s sports were discouraged, she played soccer for 30 years before discovering throwing at 65. Now 88, she trains several days weekly.

An 11-year Huntsman World Senior Games competitor, Elsbeth holds six Games’ records across discus, javelin, and shot put. She has won multiple national and international masters gold medals and set the 85–89 American shot put record in 2025.

Beyond competing, she coached high school throwers for five years and served ten years as a certified track official. Known for her sportsmanship, she mentors peers, cheers on rivals, assists officials, once spent five straight hours handing out medals, and has even driven athletes from Las Vegas to St. George. Supported by her daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons, Elsbeth truly embodies the spirit of the Games with positivity, selfless service, and record-setting excellence.

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Dr. Suzanne Watson is a retired general dentist who made history in 1974 as the first female recipient in DeSoto High School and Jefferson County, Missouri to be awarded the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Scholar Athlete award for her achievement in multiple sports before continuing her volleyball career at Missouri State University. She later built a successful dental practice, earning recognition as a Top Dentist in St. Louis for nine consecutive years.

Since returning to competitive volleyball, Suzanne has become a familiar face at senior tournaments across the country, including the Huntsman World Senior Games, National Senior Games, and Missouri Senior Games. Along the way, she's also navigated an unexpected Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis at age 58, learning how to balance elite-level competition with managing her health through perseverance and modern technology. Whether she's playing volleyball, taking barre and Pilates classes, coaching young athletes, or inspiring others through her example, Suzanne shows that active aging is about adapting, staying engaged, and never giving up on the activities you love.

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Meridan Zerner is an award-winning Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and nationally recognized wellness expert with more than 30 years of experience helping people live healthier lives. For the past 25 years, she has worked at a pioneering preventive medicine center in Dallas, Texas, where she combined evidence-based nutrition with creative wellness programming to help patients improve their health and quality of life. Meridan is a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics and a Certified Health and Wellness Coach, with expertise in weight management, performance nutrition, heart health, and healthy aging. She is passionate about helping people make lasting lifestyle changes through practical, sustainable habits and has a new book coming out soon called “The Thoughtful 30.” When she’s not working with clients or speaking around the country, she enjoys reading, traveling with her husband and two children, and keeping up with her two energetic rescue dogs.

To learn more, visit https://www.meridanzernernutrition.com

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Joe Kody is a retired sales professional, lover of all kinds of sports, and a Huntsman World Senior Games athlete who demonstrates that lifelong passions can be rekindled in unexpected ways. As a teenager, Joe enjoyed archery with his father and enjoyed football, baseball, and basketball in his youth. After retirement, he picked up pickleball and quickly became hooked, then rekindled his love for archery, taking on the challenge of barebow competition, where every shot depends on skill, focus, and consistency. Along the way, Joe has overcome arthritis and multiple joint replacements, including both knees and both hips, so he could continue doing the activities he loves. He is a model of resilience, lifelong learning, and why staying active is about much more than winning medals.

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Robert Warden is an 82-year-old pickleball coach, community volunteer, lifelong learner, and Huntsman World Senior Games medalist whose remarkable second act began with a wake-up call. After retiring from his second successful career as a nationally recognized on-air chef, this former college baseball player expected to slow down and enjoy life. Instead, at age 75, he found himself at 275 pounds and facing serious health challenges, including degenerative disc disease, heart arrhythmia, prediabetes, sleep apnea, and high blood pressure. His doctor told him he probably wouldn’t live to see 80.

Determined to change his future, Bob transformed his lifestyle through exercise, a Mediterranean diet, and a commitment to daily movement. He started with swimming and then moved to pickleball. Today, he coaches pickleball six days a week, volunteers at a local senior center, competes in tournaments, and won a bronze medal in mixed doubles at the Huntsman World Senior Games. He’s also writing a book, studying artificial intelligence, and helping with community wildfire preparedness efforts. Bob's story is a powerful reminder that some of life's most meaningful chapters can begin long after retirement.

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For more than five decades, Larry Hodges has been a driving force in table tennis, as a player, coach, author, and advocate for lifelong athletic participation. He began playing at age 16, started coaching before turning 20, and went on to become one of the most influential coaches in U.S. table tennis history, helping develop more than 250 national junior champions and co-founding the Maryland Table Tennis Center, one of the nation’s premier training programs. A member of the U.S. Table Tennis Hall of Fame and recipient of the sport’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Larry has also authored thousands of articles and dozens of books, sharing his passion for the game with generations of athletes. Now in his 60s and still competing at a world-class level, Larry is a powerful example that skill, fitness, and competitive spirit can continue to thrive well into later life.

Visit him at www.TableTennisCoaching.com

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