Senior Games no match for twins

[attach]1251[/attach]Even at 73-years-old, twins Slavko and Zdravko Solesa are all about a little rivalry amongst peers.

The two are preparing for the North York Senior Games starting this April until June.

Zdravko can’t wait.

“Competition is the best training,” he said. “Competition is worth 30 or 40 training sessions, that’s my point.”

Brother Slavko echoed that sentiment.

“We are just the same as every other man, the only difference is we don’t run to the doctor’s for every little thing,” he said. “When I don’t feel good I do my regular exercise, so by that, I cure myself and I never use any medication.”

Staying fit is all in the reflexes for them, even during their teenage years in Yugoslavia.

But it was also a form of escape for the two growing up during politically volatile times for Yugoslavia.

Born in Bosnia, the two moved just outside Belgrade to avoid being persecuted.

“We were all the time on the run and it was so difficult,” Slavko said. “It was just a miracle we stayed alive.”

The move to the outskirts of Yugoslavia’s capital helped them hone their athleticism.

Zdravko’s specialty is weightlifting in the 69-kilogram class. Slavko focused on Greek-Roman wrestling. Now both partake in swimming and prediction time walking, as well as maintaining their muscle mass.

“When we moved close to Belgrade it happened that our backyard bordered with a stadium with track and field,” Slavko said. “So everyday from morning to late in the evening we spent at the stadium.

“Over there we were competing in all kinds of sports: running, jumping, playing soccer.”

For Zdravko, it also encouraged a run at the Summer Olympics.

“I was a candidate for the Olympic games in Rome, Italy in 1960,” he recalled. “I came prepared … the government just three months before going decided not to send (some athletes).

“It was just across the border in Italy,” he said. “I don’t know why they made that decision.”

The two came to Canada in 1977 and have continued training.

Zdravko said he spends most of his time at York University’s track and field training facility where he has run into the likes of Ben Johnson, Donovan Bailey and Bruny Surin.

Both are magnets when it comes to medals as well. Zdravko was inducted into the Canadian Masters Weightlifting Hall of Fame in 2008 and Slavko continues to hit his mark in prediction walking.

But what Slavko takes real pride in are his five grandchildren.

“All of them are good in sports,” he said. “My granddaughter she was athlete of the year in school. My one grandson is a soccer player, another granddaughter is in gymnastics.”

You could say athletics run deep in the Solesa gene pool.

“You have to be training all the time,” Zdravko said. “Once it’s in your blood you cannot stop whatever happens.

“You injured, healthy, you go — never stop.”