Lakeland’s Janet Lamoureux Honored as Florida Senior Games Athlete of the Year

Lakeland's Janet Lamoureux Honored as Florida Senior Games Athlete of the Year

The final day of the 2025 Florida Senior Games was highlighted by awarding Lakeland’s Janet Lamoureux as the 2024 Female Athlete of the Year. She was presented with the award after competing in the 1500 Meter Power Walk.

Lamoreaux (pictured at right), won multiple medals in Track and Field, Power Walk and Road Race events in the 60-64 age group at the 2024 Florida Senior Games and the 2025 National Senior Games. She is a Florida Senior Game record holder in three Power Walk events and set a Power Walk record at the 2025 National Senior Games.

Prior to receiving the award she won a silver medal in the 1500 Meter Power Walk 60-64 age group with a time of 8:37.74. On Saturday, she won a gold medal in the 5K Road Race in the 60-64 age group with a time of 23:25.

Lamoureux has been competing in the Florida Senior Games since 2015 and has traveled to five National Senior Games since 2017. At the 2025 National Senior Games, she won two gold, a silver and two bronze medals.

While she normally competes in a variety of events at the Florida Senior Games, she scaled back in 2025.

“I’m training for a marathon and focusing on that,” she said. She will run in the Boston Marathon in April.

While Lamoureux was running at the Cypress Creek High School track, 100-year old George Darwin, of Zephyrhills, was sliding discs at the Zephyrhills Shuffleboard Court for the second consecutive day. He won his second gold medal of the 2025 Games, teaming with R.L. Lay, also of Zephyrhills to win the doubles gold in the 85-89 age group.

Born in 1925 in Grand View, Wisconsin, back in the “horse and buggy days,” according to Darwin. Grand View is and was a small town of around 500 residents, in the very northern part of Wisconsin.

“Yeah, it’s right up there near Lake Superior,” Darwin said. “We would go into the big city of Ashland and it would take us two days to go 25 miles.”

Darwin (pictured at left), who turns 101 in January, holds onto a walker to slide discs down the 52-foot court. “I have a little bit of trouble with my balance” he said.

However, his accuracy is dead on as his discs knock opponents off the court and land in the scoring areas.

At the Cycling 20K and 40K Road Races, Kim Besuden, of Orlando, completed a four-for-four sweep of cycling gold medals winning two on Sunday, in San Antonio, to add to her two golds in the 5K and 10K Time Trials last Sunday.

Conditions at the Cypress Creek High School must have been very favorable for runners and walkers at six Power Walk and 14 Track and Field running event age group records were broken Sunday.

Sonja Friend-Uhl, of Boca Raton, broke her own record in the 800 meter run, 505-54 age group, which she set in 2022. She also won a gold medal in the 1500 meter run and the 5K Road Race on Saturday, as the top overall women’s finisher.

Leslie Bennett, of Fort Lauderdale, established a new record in the Men’s 400 meter run in the 80-84 age group. His time of 1:13.86, topped the previous record, set in 1999, by John Anoka, of Maitland, by nine seconds.

The 2025 Florida Senior Games were the first year of a four-year partnership with Florida’s Sports Coast. The 2026 Games will be held, December 5-13, in Pasco County and the Games continue in the area through 2028.

The 2026 Florida Senior Games Series Qualifiers begin in January. It will be the starting point for athletes wishing to compete in the 2027 National Senior Games, as the 2026 Florida Senior Games is a qualifier for the 2027 National Senior Games, to be held in Tulsa Oklahoma.

A total of 1,633 athletes competed in more than 20 sports over nine days at the 2025 Florida Senior Games in Florida’s Sports Coast/Pasco County. Since the Games began in 1992, a total of 66,352 athletes have registered to compete in the Florida Senior Games. For complete results from the 2025 Florida Senior Games, please visit www.floridaseniorgames.com/results.

The 34th Annual Florida Senior Games are an annual program of the Florida Sports Foundation, the official sports promotion and development organization of the state of Florida, presented in conjunction with Florida’s Sports Coast.

A total of 1,633 athletes are registered to compete, December 6-14, in Florida’s Sports Coast/Pasco County. Since the Games began in 1992, a total of 66,352 athletes have registered to compete in the Florida Senior Games. For complete results from the 2025 Florida Senior Games, please visit www.floridaseniorgames.com/results.