Turlock Mayor Amy Bublak dusted off her throwing skills after almost 30 years in 2022 and showed that she still has what it takes to finish first when she took home gold medals in both the javelin and shot-put events at the U.S. Police & Fire Championships. She repeated that same winning performance this year — and now has her sights set on an international title.
Bublak will turn her attention to the World Police & Fire Games, which started Friday and runs through Aug. 6 in Winnipeg, Canada.
“I’m thankful my body has held up to competition. I enjoy challenging my mind and body. I would encourage people to set goals at any age,” said Bublak.
Bublak is no stranger to winning. In her four years of competition at Stan State, Bublak established school records in the javelin and shot put and was a three time NCAA Division III All American in the javelin, and two-time Northern California Athletic Conference champion in the javelin. In the shot put and javelin she earned All Conference distinction in each of her four seasons. As a member of the Warrior track and field team she has the distinction of having earned Most Valuable Player honors for each of the four years she competed. She also competed in the Olympic trials in the late 1980s.
The Mayor has been training under Jennifer Neal, owner of Turlock’s ABC Fitness, who said that when she first met Bublak she knew with “great programming, dedication, and commitment” she’d succeed.
“Since defending her U.S. Police and Fire Championships title in javelin and shot put in June in San Diego, we’ve been fine tuning her workouts and emphasizing active recovery and having conversations around mind set which is going to be critical going to Winnipeg,” said Neal. “Amy wears two hats — Mayor and competitive athlete. Neither are foreign to her. This four time NCAA All American is ready for the World Police and Fire Olympics Championships and we will be glad to be there cheering her on.
“Outside of her performance and dedication to her goal, watching her engage despite all the politics and constraints that tag along with any politician, Amy’s been a source of positivity and has added such a pleasant culture to other athletes in our gym community.”
Bublak, a retired police officer, competed for the Modesto Police Department at the national event held last month in San Diego.
“The Modesto Police Department is proud to have retired Modesto Police Officer and current Turlock Mayor Amy Bublak representing law enforcement in the World Police and Fire games. We look forward to watching her continued success in the Police and Fire games,” said Brandon Gillespie, Chief of Police City of Modesto.
While she is competing for the U.S., she will also have the support of Turlock law enforcement.
“Mayor Amy Bublak embodies the commitment to service and dedication to our community. We proudly support her as a former police officer as she represents our city in the upcoming Police and Fire World Games,” stated the Turlock Police Officers Association.
Held biennially, the World Police & Fire Games is an Olympic-style competition with more than 8,500 athletes representing law enforcement, firefighters, and police officers from more than 50 countries across the world. These athletes compete in more than 60 unique sports. Founded and hosted several times in the United States, past host countries include, Australia, Canada, China, Northern Ireland, Spain, and Sweden.
As a celebration of firefighters and law enforcement world–wide, the size and scope of the World Police & Fire Games continues to grow. Attendance in the Games increases as have the number of nations involved throughout its history. The 2011 WPFG in New York holds the current attendance record with more than 16,000 athletes competing in 67 sports from near 70 countries. More than 10,000 competitors competed in the Chengdu, China Games in 2019. With family and traveling companions, overall attendance topped 25,000.
Bublak will compete in javelin at 5:30 p.m. PST on Wednesday and shot put at 2:30 p.m. PST on Aug. 5. The competition can be viewed on live stream by downloading the World Police and Fire Games 2023 App.
