Maine Sports Hall of Famer James Chico Hernandez of Washburn was one of the 91 athletes from Maine and the 12,407 athletes representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 10 countries at the 2025 National Senior Games, held from July 24 to Aug. 4 in in Des Moines, Iowa.
Presented by Humana, this was the second largest National Senior Games in history.
Hernandez, who trains at Aroostook County Fitness in Presque Isle, won powerlifting Gold in the 70-74 age group, 4A division, as he logged in with 300 pounds on the squat, 235 pounds on the bench, and 315 pounds on the deadlift, for a total of 825 pounds, in a field of 18 lifters.
“I took first place in my group in squats, first in bench press, second in dead lift and first overall,” Hernandez said.
“I had a fab time on three hours sleep and little food, driving up from St. Louis after flying in from Bangor,” he said. “It feels great to win a gold for Maine and bring it back to The County.”
Florida led all states with 200 gold medals, 125 silver medals and 129 bronze medals, for a total of 454, followed by California North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee.
Maine collected 10 gold, 17 silver and eight bronze medals for a total of 35. Hernandez was one of the state’s 10 gold medalists.
