MEMPHIS FIT
By Halle Griggs Photo by JoLaura Bell
Senior Olympian Neringa Jakstiene has a One Track Mind Age truly is just a number to Neringa Jakstiene. At 56, she has won eight National Senior Olympics gold medals and holds a plethora of world records. Her current indoor world record holdings are in: 60m hurdles with a time of 9.48 seconds, long jump with a distance of 5.22 meters, triple jump with a distance of 11.09 meters, and pentathlon with 4894 points. Her current outdoor world record holdings are in: long jump with a distance of 5.06 meters and pentathlon with 4735 points.
From Eastern Europe To Memphis Born in Vilnius, Lithuania, Neringa competed in track events from age 13 to age 30. During this time, she was with the Soviet Union Junior Team. As a child, Neringa was no stranger to hardships. Because of her mother’s poor health conditions and her father’s workload, she grew up in a foster home with her sister until she finished high school. Sports, especially track, taught her discipline and responsibility and provided an outlet for coping with life’s difficulties. Neringa moved to Memphis in 1994 with her husband, who later passed away at age 50. Following her husband’s death, she began volunteering as a track and field coach at Rhodes College, and then worked as a housekeeper.
That Competitive Edge Throughout her hiatus of 20 years, she dreamt of competing in a world-level competition. After hearing about the Senior Olympics when she was 50, she decided to rejoin the competitive scene. She trained extremely hard for four years with a goal of getting back in shape to one day set a world record. To her great achievement, she not only set one record, 12
