Are you ever too old to have fun?
(Photo above of Andy MacDonald courtesy of The Guardian/Tom Jenkins)
In a previous blog we’ve already talked about never being too old to chase your dreams like record-holding distance swimmer Diana Nyad. But the 2024 Paris Olympics that ended a few weeks ago, inspired me to double down on it.
In a world that values youth and the potential that comes with it, compounded with hustle culture convincing everybody to achieve everything everywhere all at once, it was refreshing to see middle-aged athletes competing at what is considered the pinnacle of athletic achievement, the Olympics.
Sports is a fickle lover, whose preference for youth is undeniable.
Which is why these quote-unquote “elderly" athletes captured the hearts and fascination of the Olympics’ audience around the world.
Here are some of the oldest athletes who participated in the Paris Olympics.
50 years old
Andy MacDonald (Skateboarding, Great Britain)
MacDonald made his Olympic debut in this year’s Games, showing us a 50-year-old can still, literally, hang with teenagers, and the best of them at that. His teammates were two 16-year-old girls.
He celebrated his 51st birthday while the Paris 2024 festivities were taking place, on July 31.
Andy MacDonald, the “rad dad.” Image: Olympics.com/ Olympic Information Services OIS
51 years old
Yusuf Dikeç (Shooting, Turkey)
Who could miss Dikeç, whose apparently nonchalant shooting stance inundated social media for weeks?
In his fifth Olympics, the retired police officer spawned countless animations and memes for being the epitome of cool, becoming the subject of satirical sites with conspiracy theories implying he was an assassin and a real-life John Wick (all in good fun). He won a silver medal while he was at it.
Yusuf Dikeç, casually becoming a viral meme. Image: Getty Images
55 years old
Nino Salukvadze (Shooting, Georgia)
Salukvadze just competed in her record 10th Olympics and the first woman to achieve this. She bagged the silver in her first appearance at the Games, in the women’s 25m air pistol event in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Nino Salukvadze, 10-time Olympian. Image: Olympics.com/Tomasz Browarczyk
57 years old
Carl Hester (Equestrian, Great Britain)
Hester debuted as the youngest on the UK team in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and in his seventh Olympics, is the national team’s oldest rider.
58 years old
Zeng Zhiying (Table Tennis, Chile)
The internet darling known as the “table tennis grandma” made her Olympic debut at 58-years old. Zeng, who had turned pro at 12, was unable to get a spot on the Chinese table tennis team for the Seoul 1988 Olympics and moved to Chile to coach instead. We now watch her fulfill a childhood dream.
Zeng Zhiying, the table tennis grandma. Image: nbcnews.com
Steffen Peters (Equestrian, USA)
Peters’ first Olympics experience was in the USA, as well at the 1996 Atlanta Games, where he took home he bronze, and he has competed in 5 Olympic Games since.
Mario Deslauriers (Equestrian, Canada)
Deslauriers first became an Olympian in Los Angeles 1984, and after a 40-year gap, played in his 4th Olympic Games in Paris.
61 years old
Pius Schweitzer (Equestrian, Switzerland)
Schweitzer represented his country in Beijing 2008, London 2012, then Paris 2024.
Ni Xia Lian (Table Tennis, Luxembourg)
Another Chinese-born player and friend of Zeng Zhiying but made her debut much earlier, in the Sydney 2000 Games, and marked her 6th Olympics in Paris.
Ni Xia Lian showing us how it’s done. Image: Olympics.com/InternationalTable Tennis Federation
62 years old
Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (Equestrian, Sweden)
Bengtsson medalled twice in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and made his fifth appearance in Paris 2024.
65 years old
Juan Antonio Jimenez (Equestrian, Sweden)
Jimenez made his maiden Olympic appearance in Sydney 2000, bagged a silver medal in Athens 2004, then made his comeback 20 years later in this year’s Paris Olympics. Not giving up on a dream after 20 years probably deserves its own award.
Juan Antonio Jimenez, defying age expectations. Image: themirror.com
Qualifying for the Olympics in your 50s to 60s is amazing, but imagine debuting at the most prestigious sporting event at that age, which is what a lot of these athletes did.
Granted, these are elite athletes and have probably trained most of their lives, and you could say, bound to make the Olympics sooner or later. Yes, your path towards being an Olympian when you decide to do so in later years may be the most improbable of feats, but that doesn’t mean that it's impossible.
This is your reminder that your age shouldn't stop you from at the very least, pursuing a new hobby or interest.
And your age definitely isn't too late to have fun!
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