If you followed the Milan Cortina Winter Olympic games that just finished, you may have heard about Rich Ruohonen on the U.S. men’s curling team, who became the oldest U.S. Olympian to compete in the Winter Olympics. The 54-year-old personal injury lawyer from Minnesota was originally on the team as an alternate, but once the team was out of medal contention, his teammates decided to give him the honor of stepping onto the ice so he could achieve the age-defying distinction.
Read: Inspiring stories from GenX and Boomers
Ruohonen proved that athletic dreams are not limited by age, and he’s not the only one. Learn more about some other 50-ish athletes who have outlasted the vast majority of their fellow players in Olympic competitions and professional sports.
OLYMPIANS
The Speed Skater: Claudia Pechstein
Pechstein is a German speed skater who was nearly 48 years old when she broke the record as the oldest speed skater to win a World Cup race. She also has the distinction of being the first female athlete from any sport to compete at eight Olympic Winter Games, spanning 1992 to 2022.
The Snowboarder: Claudia Riegler
Competing for Austria in the Milan Cortina Olympics, Riegler became the oldest female Olympian to ever participate at the Games at age 52. Perhaps most remarkable is that she’s in the high-intensity sport of snowboarding, competing in women’s snowboarding parallel giant slalom. Also amazing? She was told she should quit at 30 years old for being too old – and then continued competing for another 22 years. This was her fifth appearance at the games.
The Gymnast: Oksana Chusovitina
Uzbekistan’s Chusovitina is a three-time world gold medalist who has also competed in 8 Olympic games. And at age 50, she’s still going, hoping to make it to the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Honorable Olympics Mention: Elana Meyers Taylor, the Bobsledder
While she’s closer to 40 than 50, Meyers Taylor’s historic gold medal monobob win in the Milan Cortina games was awe inspiring. Not only because it was her sixth career medal (her first gold), but the win made her the oldest American woman (age 41) to win gold at the winter games. Her career longevity was hardly a given after taking a break to have kids and then battling back from injuries including a concussion. As Meyers Taylor shared with NBC Sports after her first gold medal win, though, “It’s never too late…. The story doesn’t end until you say it’s over.”
PRO SPORTS
NHL
Hockey players are tough as nails, especially the select few who continued playing professionally well past their teammates. You’ll likely recognize these big names, too, as they are among some of the most legendary players.
Coming in as the oldest, you have Gordie Howe who played past his 52nd birthday to complete 26 seasons in the NHL. Chris Chelios played until age 48, winning the Stanley Cup three times. Finally, Jaromir Jagr, who remains second all time for most points, left the NHL at age 48. But he still plays professionally for the Kladno Knights in the Czech league and is currently in his 38th season at age 54.
MLB
The pitcher Satchel Paige is famous for coming out of retirement to step on the mound at the age of 59. While that was a one-off publicity stunt, he threw three shutout innings. Relief pitcher Jack Quinn actually played through until the age of 50, however, before retiring in 1933.
In more recent years, Julio Franco became the oldest player to hit a homerun, just a few weeks shy of turning 49 years old in 2007.
“It’s never too late…. The story doesn’t end until you say it’s over.” — Elana Meyers Taylor, gold medal bobsledder
NFL
The physical nature of football means you won’t see too many 40+ players running up and down the field. However, George Blanda was a legendary quarterback turned kicker who played the sport until he turned 48. He finally hung up his cleats in 1976.
In the modern era, Tom Brady broke the record for being the oldest quarterback to start a game at age 45 in 2022.
NBA
The NBA is a younger man’s sport, for sure, but there have been a number of players who played the game for over two decades and into their 40s. They include Kevin Willis (44), Robert Parish (43), Vince Carter (43) and Udonis Haslem (42).
Golf
While many older athletes achieve the feat of just being able to play a bit longer than most, some are still at the top of their game. Take Phil Mickelson, who made the PGA history books when he became the oldest PGA Championship winner just before his 52nd birthday.
Tennis
While many tennis lovers turn to pickleball as they age, Leslie Rose is still earning professional tennis accolades as the oldest active tennis player with a WTA ranking. At age 53, she’s still active on the doubles tournament circuit.
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