St. Louisan Myrle Mensey is ready to travel to Italy to take on the world as one of the top Masters track and field athletes in the United States.
Mensey, 58, is headed to Italy in September to compete in the World Masters Track and Field Championships. Mensey competes in the 55-59 age division where she is the top athletes in her age group in the throws. The competition runs from Sept. 6-15.
Mensey will be a busy athlete as she will participate in five different throwing events. She will compete in the shot put, discus, hammer throw, weight throw and weight pentathlon. Mensey is the only athlete from the state of Missouri who is part of the USA delegation.
This will be her second time at the World Masters Championships. Mensey brought home three medals from the 2005 World Championships in Canada, including a gold medal in the shot put. She hopes to do better this time around in Italy, but she admits the competition will be much tougher.
“The competition is going to be off the hook,” she said. “This will be the toughest competition I’ve ever faced. The biggest competition will come from the Russian and German girls. Some of them have been throwing for many years. People told me that if I can come home with one medal, it would be huge. All it takes is one big throw.”
A competitor in Masters competition since 2003, Mensey has established herself as one of the best in the country in a short period of time. As she enters her fifth season as a Masters athlete, Mensey continues to get better with each season.
Mensey has been at her best during the 2007 season as she has achieved several personal records. She has been busy traveling around the country for several meets and has been quite successful. One of her personal records came in the 25-pound weight throw, where she broke her own American record by a foot and a half. The record throw came at the Southeastern Masters Championships in North Carolina earlier this year.
She also set new personal bests in the discus, javelin and hammer. Mensey won two gold medals at the recent National Senior Games in Louisville, Ky. Mensey won the shout put and discus while finishing second in the hammer throw and third in the javelin.
“I’ve been able to maintain my strength, but I need to focus on my technique,” Mensey said. “I’ve improved my hammer throw by 30 feet because I’ve continued to improve my technique.”
As well as being a world-class athlete, Mensey is also a very civic-minded individual who stays active in the local community. Her success in athletics have given her the platform to mentor other women through sports, motivational speaking and other civic endeavors. Plans are also in the works for Mensey to start her own charitable foundation to help women achieve success and balance in life.
Mensey was appointed as a member of the Martin Luther King, Jr. State Celebration Commission by Governor Matt Blunt. She is also on the Board of Directors of both the St. Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation and George Washington Carver House Community Center. Mensey is also a member of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, St. Louis Chapter.
Cut Line: St. Louisan Myrle Mensey will compete in the upcoming World Masters Track and Field Championships in Italy from Sept. 6-15. She is the American record holder in the women’s hammer throw in the 55-59 age division.
