Kathy Bergen

Who is Kathy Bergen?

Kathy Bergen is an American Masters athletics track and field athlete. She is the current world record holder in the W70 100 meters and the high jump. She also holds the Indoor World records for the W65 high jump, the W70 60 meters, 200 meters and high jump. And she holds the American record for the W70 200 meters and the W65 high jump. She is the oldest woman to break the 15 second barrier in the 100 meters and to break 32 seconds in the 200 meters. She is also the first 70 year old woman to jump 1.30 meters in the high jump at USATF Masters Championships in Sacramento in 2010.

54 and a half years of age is not the normal time for someone to become an athlete. Even amongst senior athletes, where groups correspond with ages evenly divisible by 5, that would be disadvantageous. But the mother of five was not approaching the sport with high aspirations. Her only previous athletic pursuits were two years of high school basketball and many years of playing tennis at as high as 4.0 level and occasionally playing doubles with her husband, Bert. It was chasing the ball in those tennis matches that her husband noticed she was rather quick.