Pio Bunin came home with a swag of medals after competition in the Oceania Masters games, held in New Zealand at the end of January.
Mr Bunin won gold in 300m hurdle (63.25seconds), 80m short hurdle (19.16 seconds) and long jump (3.6m) in the 75-80 age group.
He also brought home silver medals in 60m (nine seconds), 200m (35 seconds) and 400m sprints (1.21 seconds) with a bronze in 100m sprints (60 seconds).
A former farmer, Mr Bunin, 77, of Victoria Point took up the competition aged in his 70s, saying he did it because he liked “to win”.
“I do it for the satisfaction and I like to win the medals. I give them to my grandchildren and they are happy to see them,” he said.
Mr Bunin has now competed in several masters events including World Masters in Lyons, France and in Perth in 2016. At the Perth event he was in the 4x400m and a 4x100m relay teams which broke the Australian records for thoe events. The 400m relay ran at 5.12.41 minutes and the 100m at 59.95 seconds. The previous record had held for about 30 years.
Mr Bunin will compete again in the World Masters being held in Malaga, Spain in September.
“I have to travel with him in case he falls over,” Mr Bunin’s wife Orietta said.
“These competitions get us around the place.”
Mr Bunin trains every day with workouts and swimming sessions at the YMCA Victoria Point, regular runs around the Victoria Point Sharks oval and twice weekly training sessions with the Queensland Masters at QEII.
He and Mrs Bunin celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in December 2017 and have three children and seven grand children.
“We are blessed that he’s active and he’s alright. He should keep doing this while he still can,” Mrs Bunin said.
