Olympic athletes tend to be between 20 and 30 years old. According to the Washington Post, the Tokyo Olympic participants were, on average, 27 years old. However, the competition also includes athletes barely in their teens and contenders no longer in their first youth. For example, 15-year-old skateboarder Sky Brown (pictured) will represent Great Britain at the Paris Olympics. Also in the fray are fortysomethings like the legendary US basketballer Diana Taurasi.
The Games themselves set no specific age limit. Instead, each sport’s international federation decides how old the participants should be. For example, 14 is the minimum age for divers and 16 for artistic gymnasts. However, this is not a competition that pits kids against kids; the kids may have to compete with older rivals. Japanese breakdancer Ayumi Fukushima, who is expected to qualify for Paris, will be 41 years old during the Olympics, while Australian breakdancer Jeff Dunne is only 16.
The oldest Olympian competed at 72
Even sexagenarians have competed in the Olympics. Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn won his first Olympic gold at 60 in the 1908 London Games. He is the oldest Olympian ever, having competed at the Antwerp Olympics in 1920 at 72.
Conversely, the Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loudras is the youngest Olympian ever. He was only ten years old when he competed in the 1896 Olympics in Athens, the first modern Olympic Games.
Here is a list of young and old athletes to watch at the Paris Games this year. The list includes their age, nationality, and sport.
Young Athletes:
- Dominika Banevic, 16, Lithuania, women’s breaking.
- Quan Hongchan,17, China. women’s platform diving.
- Kaylia Nemour, 17, Algeria, women’s gymnastics
- Fred Richard, 19, USA, men’s gymnastics.
- Darja Varfolomeev, 17, Germany, women’s rhythmic gymnastics.
- Gavin Bottger, 17, USA, men’s skateboarding.
- Sky Brown, 15, Great Britain, women’s skateboarding.
- Lamine Yamal,16, Spain, men’s soccer.
- Sam Watson, 18, USA, men’s speed climbing.
- Summer McIntosh, 17, Canada, women’s swimming.
Older Athletes:
- Bill May, 45, USA, men’s artistic swimming.
- LeBron James, 39, USA, men’s basketball.
- Diana Taurasi, 41, USA, women’s basketball.
- Ben Maher, 41, Great Britain, men’s equestrian.
- Nikola Karabatic, 40, France, men’s handball.
- Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, 37, Jamaica, women’s track and field.
- Jordan Larson, 37, USA, women’s volleyball.
- Mijain Lopez, 41, Cuba, men’s wrestling.
Source: Popsugar