No land for older people? American Steffen Peters, a 59-year-old Gymnast in horse, may beg to differ.
Peters is Team USA’s oldest swimmer competing at the Paris Olympics. This is his fifth Games, and he is a three-time champion, winning his second copper again in 1996 in Atlanta.
His time is not an exception within his sports, however—equestrian Laura Kraut, even representing the United States in Paris, is just a year younger at 58. The gap between American equestrians in Paris ( 41.1 % ) and the second-oldest sport, sailing ( 31.1 % ), is larger than the gap between sailing and the very youngest sport, marathon swimming ( 21.8 % ).
Other sports where U. S. athletes with a little more experience are thriving include volleyball ( 30.4), triathlon ( 29.6 ) and, somewhat surprisingly, basketball ( 29.9 ). National flag-bearer LeBron James, 20 years after his first Olympic looks, is still one of the best players on the planet at age 39. He is joined on Team USA by 36-year-old Stephen Curry and 35-year-old Kevin Durant. For the girls, 42-year-old Diana Taurasi is going for her seventh gold medal.
On the flip side, all disciplines of aquatics benefit the youth, whether it’s marathon swimming, artistic swimming ( 21.4), swimming ( 22.9 ) or diving ( 24.7 ). A pair of sports that were added to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 are sport climbing ( 21. 8 ), and skateboarding ( 21. 4). To charm to a younger crowd, Tokyo added a number of new activities, and drawing in younger sports furthers that goal.
American soccer players ( 24.6 % ) are younger than those in the majority of other team sports. That is mainly due to Olympic men’s hockey being designated as a U-23 competitors, meaning that people must be 23 years old or younger, with just three instances allowed.
Gymnastics ( 22.3 ) is also one of the youngest sports, but it’s worth noting this year’s women’s gymnastics team is the oldest group since 1952. That’s actually with 16-year-old Hezly Rivera, the youngest person representing the United States in Paris, on this year’s squad—and she previously won gold as part of the group all-around competitors. Quite suitable for a student in high school.