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Sarasota Athlete Wins Gold at Huntsman World Senior Games Contact Name: Virginia Harshman Contact Email: virginia.harshman@ringling.org Contact Phone Number: 941-538-2901 Immediate Release Sarasota, Florida- Virginia Harshman, 57 of Sarasota recently traveled to the Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George, Utah where she won a gold medal in Women’s Powerwalk. Virginia also won silver medals in the 1500 and 3000-meter races. Harshman, who has been powerwalking for several years, including two finishes in the Chicago Marathon, holds the Florida State Women’s Powerwalk record, set last year at the Florida Senior Games in St. Petersburg. The Huntsman World Senior Games, as it is known today, began in 1987 as the World Senior Games, an international senior sports competition. Founded by Daisy and John H. Morgan, Jr., the Games began with their vision of an international sports event for men and women ages 55 and better. This year, over 11,000 athletes participated in 32 different events. Athletes hailed from all 50 states and 29 different countries. Virginia, who is coached by her husband John said, “It was great to compete with athletes of this caliber and an honor to bring some medals back to Florida.” While winning gold in a world competition was a great accomplishment, the Harshmans were also celebrating Virginia’s winning her battle over breast cancer. “It is hard to imagine that four years ago were sitting in the chemotherapy center,” said John Harshman “My wife has worked very hard to overcome many things and I am so proud of her.” Besides spending time training for The Games, Virginia works as a public relations specialist at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and is a student in the Museum Studies program at Harvard University. ### About Huntsman World Senior Games Huntsman World Senior Games is the World's largest annual multisport event for athletes 50 years and better. Our mission is to foster worldwide peace, health and friendship through sports competition. To achieve this goal we produce an annual, international, two-week sporting event for athletes over the age of 50 focused on quality competition for all skill levels, health education and screenings, and opportunities for social interaction and camaraderie among participants. Contact: Virginia Harshman Virginia.harshman@ringling.org 941-538-2901