Older Athletes

What a remarkable summer for middle-aged athletes! Fifty-three-year old Greg Norman tied for third in the British Open; 50-year old Nancy Lieberman mounted a comeback with the W.N.B.A.; and 41-year old Dara Torres missed winning an Olympic gold medal by a mere 1/100th of a second, swimming the 50-meter freestyle more than half a second faster than she did at age 33.

Several other less well-known men and women over 40, both past and present, have competed in the Olympics, including...


Elizabeth “Libby” Callahan (pictured above), American shooter, 56
John Dane, American sailor, 58
Hiroshi Hoketsu, Japanese equestrian (dressage), 67
Richard “Butch” Johnson, American archer, 52
Jujie Luan, Canadian fencer, 50
Laurie Lever, Australian equestrian (show jumping), 60
Jeannie Longo, French cyclist, 49
Debbie McDonald, American equestrian (dressage), 53
Ian Millar, Canadian equestrian (show jumping), 61
Iain Murray, Australian sailor, 50
Susan Nattrass, Canadian trap shooter, 57
Karen O’Connor, American equestrian (eventing), 50
Haile Satayin, Israeli marathon runner, 53
Nick Skelton, British horseman, 50
David Zhuang, American table tennis player, 44

But the oldest Olympian of all time is Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn, who won a silver medal at the 1920 Antwerp Games at age 72 years and 280 days.

Note: The above photo was taken by Tim Hipps for ABC News. Click here to read the article in which it appears.