Retired Marshalltown High School math teacher and Otto Welfring may be pushing 92 years old, but that doesn’t mean he’s stopped pushing himself — he either rides the exercise bike or lifts weights at The Willows, where he resides, almost every day.

And he doesn’t just do it for fun. Welfring, who made his first appearance at the Iowa Games in 1987, continues to compete in the Iowa Senior Games annually, and he recently won gold medals in both discus and shot put in the 90-95 age group earlier this month.

“I’m sure it’s (that I’ve been) lucky and God’s grace. Whatever it takes,” he said. “I didn’t have any idea (I would still be at it). I just kind of kept at it and had other people that you’ve competed against and you see at different meets and everything, so that kind of always brings you back a little bit.”

While most of his experience has been in the aforementioned events, he has also participated in 3-on-3 basketball and softball at the Senior Games in the past. Welfring traces his passion for track and field back to his high school days in Martin, S.D., where he qualified for the state meet in the long jump and low hurdles as a senior.

At the Nebraska State Teachers College, now known as Chadron State, he continued to compete in shot put, discus, long jump, javelin and pole vault. He eventually made his way to Marshalltown as a high school math teacher and served as a coach in football, wrestling and track and field.

Welfring has competed in the South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa Senior Games, where he holds records in each state for his age division. He has competed in national competitions in Arizona, California, Minnesota, Virginia, Florida and Ohio and holds gold medals in several of those states. He has also competed in State Games of America in St. Louis, Mo. and Lincoln, Neb.

The decorated athlete offered his advice for anyone who needs a little inspiration in their health journey.

“Just stick with it. Some days, you just don’t want to work out, and you’ve just gotta do it. If you let it go, then it’s hard to get back to it,” Welfring said.

And fans can expect to the Senior Games hall of famer back in West Des Moines next year determined to work toward another medal.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.