She didn't start until she was 60. Her friend Barbara Jordan talked her into trying the long jump at the Vermont Senior Games, and Meiler was hooked. Jordan died a decade ago. "I miss her so much," Meiler said.
Medals now fill Meiler's home, mostly gold with a few silver. She still competes. "I'm sad that I can't jump like I used to, but I really enjoy it," she said. When she feels herself slowing down, she adds a few more exercises.
Other athletes keep coming up to tell her she inspires them. "I really feel really warm inside because I've had so many athletes come up to me and say, 'What an inspiration you have been to me,'" she said. University of Vermont freshman Jason Lei told her he wants to be moving like her when he's older. "It makes me feel like 60 again," she said with a smile.
Gene Meiler, her husband of 65 years, is one of the people she has inspired. "She's impressed me, that's for sure," he said. "That's why I married her."
Her own explanation is short: "The good Lord has given me my health and my talent."