Old-stagers rolling back the years
Beijing 2022 has seen a number of athletes push the boundaries and embody longevity in sport
On the snow and ice of Beijing 2022, a number of athletes are competing against those 10 or 20 years their junior. In addition to chasing their Olympic dreams, these veterans are also racing against Father Time. Here is a look at some of the older athletes who are rolling back the years:
Claudia Pechstein
(Brazil, 46, cross-country skiing, biathlon) Mourao made her Olympic debut in mountain biking at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics and competed at the 2008 Beijing Games. The versatile athlete has competed in cross-country skiing and biathlon at the Winter Games, becoming the only Brazilian athlete to have participated at eight Olympic Games and the only cross-country skier who was born in the 1970s at Beijing 2022.
“In 2008, I wasn’t a very mature athlete, mentally,” Mourao said. “Today — perhaps because I’ve become a mother twice and had all these other experiences — I’m more focused on myself and my performance and can better channel my energy into what I want to do.”
(Switzerland, 40, ski jumping) Ammann, the only ski jumper to have won a golden double in normal hill and large hill individual events at two Olympics (Salt Lake City 2002 and Vancouver 2010), is back for a record seventh consecutive Games.
Ammann suffered a concussion during the Four Hills Tournament in 2015 which sparked rumors he could retire. However, he announced his comeback in May of that year.
He finished 25th in both the normal hill and large hill individual events at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
(China, 31, freestyle skiing)
Having recovered from a serious knee injury, the all-time leading FIS World Cup winner is making her fourth Olympic appearance. She was a world champion in 2013 and a silver medalist at the 2014 Sochi Games.
Xu registered the 26th World Cup victory of her career in Ruka, Finland last December, moving clear of Australian legend Jacqui Copper in the all-time list for most victories on the circuit.
On Feb 10, she helped China to silver in the mixed team aerials, an event that made its debut at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Johan Clarey (France, 41, Alpine skiing)
On the first Monday of the Games, Clarey won the men’s downhill silver medal in his fourth Olympic appearance.
“I knew I only had one chance left in my career to get a medal in the Olympics. I was just pushing a lot and taking a lot of risks,” he said.
The Frenchman has been something of a late bloomer, and has several records to his name in the latter portion of his career. In January 2021, he became the oldest Alpine skier to make the podium in a World Cup race. On Jan 21 this year, he extended his own record by finishing second in the men’s downhill in Kitzbuehel. He is also the oldest world championship medalist, having won super-G silver in 2019.
Clarey has never won any of Alpine skiing’s major titles, but he said of that elusive gold medal: “I’ve thought about it, but now, it’s not an absolute goal. It doesn’t become an obsession. I’m very proud of my career.”
(United States, 36, snowboard)
A six-time world champion and 10-time X Games winner, Jacobellis ended her 16-year wait for a gold in the women’s snowboard cross in her fifth Games.
At 36 years, 174 days, she became the oldest snowboard gold medalist, surpassing Benjamin Karl of Austria, who was 36 years, 115 days when he won the Beijing 2022 parallel giant slalom a day earlier.
At Turin 2006, Jacobellis famously missed out on gold by celebrating too early, attempting a backside air move which saw her slip and gift gold to Swiss Tanja Frieden.
Asked if she would have triumphed in Beijing were it not for her Turin mishap, Jacobellis replied: “Probably not, and I probably would have quit the sport at that point because I wasn’t really having fun with it.
“There was so much pressure on me to be the golden girl. I’d won so many races going into it and it’s a lot for a young athlete to have on their plate.”