89-year-old Rachel Williams going for gold in table tennis at National Senior Games
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The National Senior Games are taking place right now here in Pittsburgh.
One of those senior athletes is 89-year-old Rachel Williams who is hoping to win gold in table tennis, despite only picking up the sport at the start of the pandemic.
When the world hit pause in 2020, Williams needed a way to remain active and that's when she made the decision to pick up table tennis.
However, there was a bit of an issue - she needed to find an opponent, and to do so, she had to get creative.
"I thought, 'this is a chance for me to get a robot for table tennis,'" Williams recalled.
From there, a robotic opponent, a paddle, and a passion all met at once.
"I started hitting a lot of balls and got excited about it," she said. "Then I was able to connect with friends who also enjoyed table tennis."
It began as just a fun activity and a way to stay active, but once she was able to play with friends, a little bit of competitive fire began to come into the picture.
It led her and her friends to take their show on the road, so to speak.
"Several of us signed up for a competition and to my amazement, I earned a silver medal," Williams said. "That was the stimulus, so I thought about what other things could happen."
She also gave us a piece of advice for anyone that may be looking to start playing table tennis.
"My advice to them is just to try it, we never know what we can actually do until we try new activities," she said.
Finally, get this, for a workout routine, she wakes up, goes tap dancing, goes to the gym, and then goes on a walk. All this before eating breakfast.
Then, it's table tennis time.