The Age Of Champions By Rowe Kahn - 910 Words

After our class viewing of the Age of Champions as well as reading the numerous articles including one by Rowe Kahn, it is clear that there is a variety of ways people can view the term â€Å"aging successfully.† A variety of gerontologists have similarities and differences in their definition of the term, and this paper will compare some of the athletes from the film these definitions. The main definition of â€Å"aging successful† is said to be, â€Å"successful gaining includes three main components: low probability of disease and disease-related disability, high cognitive and physical functional capacity, and active engagement with life† (Rowe Kahn, 433). The first component of low probability of disease-related disability does not only refer to the physical disease itself being present in the persons body, but also the severity of the risk of the factors of such disease(s). High cognitive and physical functional capacity depicts what the individual can do and not just what they do. Finally active engagement with life deals with how the individual interacts with others (interpersonal relations) and creating societal value without any return (productive activity) (Rowe Kahn, 433). We are going to look into the lives of Roger Gentilehomme and Earl Blassingame and analyze if they are considered to be â€Å"aging well† based on variety of articles as well as personal opinion. Roger Gentihomme was born in 1909, making him 107 today and he is an all-star tennis player. He tells us how he