Age of Champions

Age is just a number—like point scores—in filmmaker Christopher Rufo's easygoing profile of competitors at the 2009 trials for America's National Senior Olympics. Notable among these jock great-grandparents are 100-year-old tennis star Roger Gentilhomme and 86-year-old pole-vault prodigy Adolph Hoffman. Two elderly African-Americans in Washington, D.C. (one undergoing chemotherapy for cancer concurrent with the games) specialize in swimming and the high dive; both are old enough to remember Jim Crow segregation, when the only public pool they could visit was the reflecting pool on the National Mall. One grace note that may strike many viewers is the mellow good sportsmanship shown by many of these athletes, who—unlike so many young superstars in the pros —are gracious in defeat and compliment their opponents. One major exception seems to be women's basketball, in which the Tigerettes of Louisiana—a sassy, fiercely competitive bunch of gals—get particularly physical against arch-rivals from Pennsylvania and Tennessee (their matches could form the basis for a whole separate movie). An uplifting sports documentary, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)