Ralph Fruguglietti didn’t need a dead Italian Olympian’s help in Sacramento. He won gold in the discus anyway. And just up the road from his Bakersfield home. Matt Martz tells Ralph’s story from worlds (plus training mate’s Cameron Bolles) in this great story in the hometown paper. My favorite part is Cameron’s reflections on making the Olympic Trials at age 40 vs. now: “That was pretty exciting, and an honor to be invited to compete at that level. But I have to say I am having just as much fun now.”

Ralph won the M55 discus at Sacramento worlds at 171 feet, 5 inches.

Ralph Fruguglietti and Cameron Bolles have been running circles around men less than half their age for years.

While many athletes are hanging up their track shoes and fading into retirement by the age of 35, these contenders are still pushing the limits, recently becoming world champions in their age group in the discus at the 2011 World Masters Athletics Championships, a biannual competition for athletes 35 and older, which was held in Sacramento on July 17.

For Bolles, a former CSUB All-American and school record holder, winning his first-ever Gold in the 45-49 year old division with a throw of 161-01–nearly five feet over his nearest competitor–not only solidified his place as a world-class athlete, but punctuated a long battle back from a series of setbacks and a life-altering event.

Bolles shows the extensive scar on his left forearm that is a painful reminder of the near-fatal motorcycle accident in August of 2009 that left him in a 13-day coma with multiple broken bones and severe head trauma.

“It’s been a painful comeback, but I can deal with it,” he said, “I really had something to prove to myself.”

After developing his skills in high school, it wasn’t until Bolles attended Santa Rosa College, where in his first year at the age 31, he ranked eighth in the country while making his first appearance at the 1996 Junior College State Championships.

Just one year later, he improved to second in the state, establishing a new school record in discus throwing that still stands today at 175-06.

Due to NCAA age eligibility restrictions for Division I athletics, Bolles eventually landed at then-DII Cal State Bakersfield, and after two record-setting years with the ‘ Runners, went on to qualify for the Olympic National Trials at the rare age of 40.

“That was pretty exciting, and an honor to be invited to compete at that level ” said Bolles, ” But I have to say I am having just as much fun now.”

Meanwhile, Bolles training partner and USA teammate Fruguglietti, walked away with his second Gold
Medal at Sacramento in the 55-59 age group, with a throw of 171-05. His first was in Italy four years ago that went a distance of 195 feet.

Much like Bolles, Fruguglietti first picked up a discus while a sophomore in high school in the Bay Area, but that is where the pairs paths part ways.

Fruguglietti went on to receive an athletic scholarship to the USC where he won two consecutive silver medals at the national championships in 1976 and ’77, while spending his summers competing in his native Italy, before giving it all up at the age of 22 for a career, marriage and a family.

It wasn’t until 23 years later that he picked up a discus again, and it didn’t take long while coaching his son that Fruguglietti rediscovered his passion for throwing.

“After being out there coaching, I decided to try throwing and I realized; I can still do this,” he said, sitting in his restaurant, Frugatti’s, on Coffee Road, “So I got serious and started training again.”

Now, the 55-year old says he and Bolles train as hard, if not harder, than they did in college. Six days a week for 10 grueling months out of the year.

“Our goal is to win every time we show up,” says Fruguglietti. “To me it really becomes how fit can you be when you’re turning the corner at 50.”

“Just because you were a star in college, or maybe even an Olympian, doesn’t mean you’re going to do good at this stage of the game.”

While to many 60 is the new 40, it’s clear that both of these men seem to be just hitting their stride.
Both say they are looking forward to representing the US at the next World Masters Athletics Championships in Brazil in 2013.