As you would expect, two-thirds of the roughly 11,700 Olympians competing in Tokyo are in their 20s. Prime of life, blah blah blah.
But the rest of the athletes range from two preteens to four 60-somethings, and the older competitors nudged up the average age to 27 for the first time since 1948.
Since the first modern Olympics in 1896, the wide range of sports has allowed for a wide range of sportsmen — and sportswomen, beginning in 1900.
A 10-year-old boy competed in that first Games, and several septuagenarians have suited up. (A 98-year-old sort of competed in 1928, but whether he counts is debatable because he was entered in the art competition and also was dead.)
The youngest athlete was Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras, who won bronze in team parallel bars at 10 years 216 days.
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Average age
Year
1896
Youngest
Oldest
1900
1904
1906
Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn was the oldest Olympic competitor and medal winner at 72.
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
Italian gymnast Luigina Giavotti, 11 years 301 days, was the youngest female medalist.
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
Equestrian Lorna Johnstone of Britain was the oldest woman ever to compete, riding in dressage at 70 years 5 days.
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
Syrian tennis table player Hend Zaza and Japanese skateboarder Kokona Hiraki are the youngest athletes in Tokyo at 12.
Australian equestrian Mary Hanna is the oldest at 66.
The youngest athlete was Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras, who won bronze in team parallel bars at 10 years 216 days.
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Average age
Year
1896
Youngest
Oldest
1900
1904
1906
Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn was the oldest athlete and medalist (72) and gold medalist (64 in 1912).
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
Italian gymnast Luigina Giavotti, 11 years 301 days, was the youngest female medalist.
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
Equestrian Lorna Johnstone of Britain was the oldest woman ever to compete, riding in dressage at
70 years 5 days.
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
Syrian tennis table player Hend Zaza and Japanese skateboarder Kokona Hiraki are the youngest athletes in Tokyo at 12.
Australian equestrian Mary Hanna is the oldest at 66.
The youngest athlete was Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras, who won bronze in team parallel bars at 10 years 216 days.
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Average age
Olympics
1896
Youngest
Oldest
1900
1904
1906
Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn was the oldest athlete and medalist (72) and gold medalist (64 in 1912).
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
Italian gymnast Luigina Giavotti, 11 years 301 days, was the youngest female medalist.
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
Equestrian Lorna Johnstone of Britain was the oldest woman ever to compete, riding in dressage at
70 years 5 days.
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
Syrian tennis table player Hend Zaza and Japanese skateboarder Kokona Hiraki are the youngest athletes in Tokyo at 12.
Australian equestrian Mary Hanna is the oldest at 66.
The youngest athlete was Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras, who won bronze in team parallel bars at 10 years 216 days.
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
U.S. archer Eliza Pollock was (probably) the oldest woman to win a gold medal at 63 years 333 days.
Average age
Olymp.
Youngest
Oldest
1896
1900
1904
1906
1908
1912
Italian gymnast Luigina Giavotti, 11 years 301 days, was the youngest female medalist.
1916
1920
Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn was the oldest athlete (72 years 281 days), medalist (72 years 279 days) and gold medalist (64 years 257 days in 1912).
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
The youngest female gold medalist was U.S. diver Marjorie Gestring, who won springboard at 13 years 268 days.
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
Equestrian Lorna Johnstone of Britain was the oldest woman ever to compete, riding in dressage at 70 years 5 days.
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
Syrian tennis table player Hend Zaza and Japanese skateboarder Kokona Hiraki are the youngest athletes in Tokyo at 12.
Australian equestrian Mary Hanna is the oldest at 66.
The youngest athlete was Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras, who won bronze in team parallel bars at 10 years 216 days.
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
U.S. archer Eliza Pollock was (probably) the oldest woman to win a gold medal at 63 years 333 days.
Average age
Olympics
Youngest
Oldest
1896
1900
1904
1906
1908
1912
Italian gymnast Luigina Giavotti, 11 years 301 days, was the youngest female medalist.
1916
Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn was the oldest athlete (72 years 281 days), medalist (72 years 279 days) and gold medalist (64 years 257 days in 1912).
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
The youngest female gold medalist was U.S. diver Marjorie Gestring, who won springboard at 13 years 268 days.
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
Equestrian Lorna Johnstone of Britain was the oldest woman ever to compete, riding in dressage at 70 years 5 days.
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
Syrian tennis table player Hend Zaza and Japanese skateboarder Kokona Hiraki are the youngest athletes in Tokyo at 12.
Australian equestrian Mary Hanna is the oldest at 66.
The most senior of those 70-somethings was Oscar Swahn, a news agency clerk and member of the Swedish shooting team who has the triple distinction of being the oldest athlete, the oldest medalist and the oldest gold medalist in Olympic history.
In 1920, he competed in three running-target events at nearly 73 and won a silver medal in a team event with his son, Alfred. Eight years before that, he won the last of his three gold medals at 64.
Swahn actually made the team again in 1924 at 76, but an illness forced him to stay home.
Oscar Swahn, second from left, was the oldest member of the gold medal-winning Swedish shooting team in 1912. His teammates were, from left, Per-Olof Arvidsson, Ake Lundeberg and his son, Alfred Swahn. (Bob Thomas/Popperfoto/Getty Images)
There was a much older Olympian in 1928, if you define “competitor” very loosely. A work by noted American sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward was entered in a medal-eligible art competition in 1928, 98 years after his birth — and 18 years after his death.
At the other end of the spectrum was 10-year-old Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras, the youngest Olympian and youngest medalist, who won bronze in team parallel bars in the first modern Games in 1896.
Sports for tweens and retirees together
That the oldest Olympian would come from shooting and the youngest from gymnastics makes sense.
The very young often — but not always — choose events that reward some combination of speed, compact size and quick reflexes. Not fearing death often helps as well. Think skateboarding, diving and gymnastics.
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Youngest
Average
Oldest
Gymn.
1896
2016
Each dot represents an age. Darker dots mean more athletes of that age.
10
49
22
Tokyo
2020
15
46
23
Diving
1896
2016
12
51
22
Tokyo
2020
14
40
24
Skateb.
Tokyo
2020
Olym.
debut
12
24
46
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Average
Youngest
Oldest
Gymn.
1896
2016
Each dot represents an age. Darker dots mean more athletes of that age.
10
49
22
Tokyo
2020
15
46
23
Diving
1896
2016
12
51
22
Tokyo
2020
14
40
24
Skateb.
Tokyo
2020
Olym.
debut
12
24
46
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Average
Youngest
Oldest
Gymnastics
1896
2016
Each dot represents an age. Darker dots mean more athletes of that age.
10
49
22
Tokyo
2020
15
46
23
Diving
1896
2016
12
51
22
Tokyo
2020
14
40
24
Skateboarding
Tokyo
2020
Olym.
debut
12
24
46
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Average age
Youngest
Oldest
Each dot represents an age. Darker dots mean more athletes of that age.
Gymnastics
1896
2016
10
49
22
Tokyo
2020
15
46
23
1896
2016
Diving
12
51
22
Tokyo
2020
14
40
24
Tokyo
2020
Skateboarding
12
24
46
Olympic
debut
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Average age
Youngest
Oldest
Each dot represents an age. Darker dots mean more athletes with that age.
Gymnastics
1896-2016
10
49
22
Tokyo 2020
15
46
24
Diving
1896-2016
12
51
22
Tokyo 2020
14
40
24
Skateboarding
Tokyo 2020
Olympic
debut
24
12
46
The over-50 crowd usually — but again, not always — gravitates toward events that reward steadiness, calm and experience, such as equestrian, sailing and target sports.
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Equest.
1896
2016
16
72
34
Tokyo
2020
20
66
38
Sailing
1896
2016
13
71
30
Tokyo
2020
16
59
29
Shooting
1896
2016
15
72
33
Tokyo
2020
15
58
30
Archery
1896
2016
14
71
28
Tokyo
2020
17
53
27
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Equest.
1896
2016
16
72
34
Tokyo
2020
20
66
38
Sailing
1896
2016
13
71
30
Tokyo
2020
16
59
29
Shooting
1896
2016
15
72
33
Tokyo
2020
15
58
30
Archery
1896
2016
14
71
28
Tokyo
2020
17
53
27
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Equestrian
1896
2016
16
72
34
Tokyo
2020
20
66
38
Sailing
1896
2016
13
71
30
Tokyo
2020
16
59
29
Shooting
1896
2016
15
72
33
Tokyo
2020
15
58
30
Archery
1896
2016
14
71
28
Tokyo
2020
17
53
27
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Equestrian
1896
2016
16
72
34
Tokyo
2020
20
66
38
Sailing
1896
2016
13
71
30
Tokyo
2020
16
59
29
Shooting
1896
2016
15
72
33
Tokyo
2020
15
58
30
Archery
1896
2016
14
71
28
Tokyo
2020
17
53
27
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Equestrian
1896-2016
16
72
34
Tokyo 2020
20
66
38
Sailing
1896-2016
13
71
30
Tokyo 2020
16
59
29
Shooting
1896-2016
15
72
33
Tokyo 2020
15
58
30
Archery
1896-2016
14
71
28
Tokyo 2020
17
53
27
But sometimes a sport accommodates both.
In skateboarding, which debuted in Tokyo, more than three decades separate the oldest and youngest competitors.
Brazil’s Rayssa Leal, 13, won a silver medal in the street course. She was bested by Momiji Nishiya of Japan, also 13, who became the second-youngest individual gold medalist — just 62 days older than U.S. diver Marjorie Gestring was when she won the springboard competition in 1936.
That mark could fall when Japanese 12-year-old Kokona Hiraki, who won an X Games silver medal before she turned 11, competes in the park event in a field that includes British medal favorite Sky Brown, who turned 13 last month.
Brazil's Rayssa Leal competes during women's street skateboarding preliminaries. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
On the flip side, longtime pro Rune Glifberg, a.k.a. “The Danish Destroyer,” competed in the first X Games in 1995 and will be the older of two 46-year-olds when he and his pink pants drop into the men’s park event. South Africa’s Dallas Oberholzer is eight months younger than Glifberg.
The oldest and youngest table tennis players in Olympic history competed in Tokyo — but not against each other. Xia Lian Ni, 58, lost to an opponent less than a third her age; Hend Zaza, 12, lost to an opponent more than three times her age.
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Table
Tennis
1896
2016
15
54
27
Tokyo
2020
12
58
29
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Table
Tennis
1896
2016
15
54
27
Tokyo
2020
12
58
29
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Table Tennis
1896
2016
15
54
27
Tokyo
2020
12
58
29
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Table Tennis
1896
2016
15
54
27
Tokyo
2020
12
58
29
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Table Tennis
1896-2016
15
54
27
Tokyo 2020
12
58
29
Ni, a former member of the Chinese national team who now competes for Luxembourg, lost her first-found match to Yubin Shin, 17, of South Korea.
“I am short, I am old, I have an old-fashioned style of playing, but I believe I have a good attitude, which helped me to get this far,” Ni said in 2019, after she qualified for her fifth Olympics.
Zaza, a Harry Potter-loving Syrian, lost her first-round match to Liu Jia of Austria, a six-time Olympian.
“A 12-year-old girl playing against a 39-year-old and taking nine or 10 points, this is an achievement,” Zaza said after her loss. “For sure, I wanted to win and take one or two matches, but hopefully in the next Olympics.”
Even in the speed and power sports, which are mostly the domain of athletes at their physical peak, more than a few outliers have crashed the party.
Swimmers skew young, with an average age of 21 — lowest among all Olympic sports — but there are variations by discipline. Marathon swimmers, like many long-distance athletes, are usually a bit older. Artistic swimmers are often teenagers.
Superstars Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky made their Olympics debuts at 15, and the Tokyo roster includes 15 swimmers who are 15 or younger. The best of those youngsters stick around to become elders, such as Team USA’s Dara Torres, who won three silver medals in 2008 at 41 and just missed qualifying for her sixth Olympics four years later.
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Swimming
1896
2016
11
46
21
Tokyo
2020
14
36
23
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Swimming
1896
2016
11
46
21
Tokyo
2020
14
36
23
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Swimming
1896
2016
11
46
21
Tokyo
2020
14
36
23
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Swimming
1896
2016
11
46
21
Tokyo
2020
14
36
23
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Swimming
1896-2016
11
46
21
Tokyo 2020
14
36
23
The oldest player in one of the older-leaning sports, U.S. beach volleyball veteran Jake Gibb, 45, is in Tokyo trying for his first medal in his fourth Olympics with new partner Tri Bourne, who filled in when Gibb’s regular partner tested positive for the coronavirus.
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Beach
Volleyball
1896
2016
18
41
29
Tokyo
2020
19
45
30
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Beach
Volleyball
1896
2016
18
41
29
Tokyo
2020
19
45
30
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Beach Volleyball
1896
2016
18
41
29
Tokyo
2020
19
45
30
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Beach
Volleyball
1896
2016
18
41
29
Tokyo
2020
19
45
30
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Beach
Volleyball
1896-2016
18
41
29
Tokyo 2020
19
45
30
Track and field has so many varied events that the average age is largely meaningless.
Plenty of teen runners have medaled in short races, including U.S. sprinter Allyson Felix in her first Olympics in 2004 at 18. Yet only one marathoner has: a 19-year-old Swede aptly named Ernst Fast, who won bronze in 1900 despite a wrong turn.
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Track
and
Field
1896
2016
12
52
25
Tokyo
2020
17
51
27
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Track
and
Field
1896
2016
12
52
25
Tokyo
2020
17
51
27
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Track and Field
1896
2016
12
52
25
Tokyo
2020
17
51
27
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Track and Field
1896
2016
12
52
25
Tokyo
2020
17
51
27
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Track and Field
1896-2016
12
52
25
Tokyo 2020
17
51
27
U.S. marathoner Abdi Abdirahman, 44, who will run in Tokyo, is the oldest runner to make a U.S. Olympic team, but he is still eight years short of the oldest Olympic runner ever, Canada’s Percy Wyer, who placed 30th of 40 finishers in the 1936 marathon at 52.
Even sprinters, who peak in their mid- to late 20s, have a few outliers in their ranks.
The great Merlene Ottey won nine medals for Jamaica before competing for Slovenia in her seventh Olympics in 2004. At 44, she made the semifinals in the 100 and 200 meters.
“For me, it's amazing that I've qualified to still be running,” Ottey said in 2004.
Her competitors were amazed as well.
“She could be, like, my mom,” said Belgium’s Kim Gevaert, then 26. “My mom is only a couple of years older, and I don’t see my mom out here.”
“I want to be able to move at all at 44,” said Austria’s Bettina Mueller, 31. “My whole body is already hurting. … She’s cooler than all the young sprinters.”
Yes, there are (some) limits
So how old is too old for the Olympics? Usually the answer is simply when you can’t outperform enough younger people to make the team. Only boxing has a hard age cap, at 40.
But the governing bodies of several sports legislate how young is too young, none more prominently than gymnastics.
Since 1997, Olympic gymnasts must turn 16 before or during the calendar year of the Olympics. The limit was instituted for the health of the athletes and out of well-documented fear that the youngest girls were being exploited in the demanding sport.
Ages of Olympic gymnasts
since 1896
50 years old
40
Oldest
30
Average
20
16
years old
Minimum age
since 1997
15
since
1981
14
since
1971
10
Youngest
0
1896
1912
1948
1972
1996
2020
Gymnasts must turn the minimum age
by Dec. 31 of the Olympic year.
Ages of Olympic gymnasts since 1896
50 years old
40
Oldest
30
Average
20
16
years old
Minimum age
since 1997
15
since
1981
14
since
1971
10
Youngest
0
1896
1912
1948
1972
1996
2020
Gymnasts must turn the minimum age by Dec. 31 of the Olympic year.
Ages of Olympic gymnasts since 1896
50 years old
40
Oldest
30
Average
20
16
Minimum age
since 1997
14
since
1971
15
since
1981
10
Youngest
0
1896
1904
1912
1928
1948
1960
1972
1984
1996
2008
2020
Gymnasts must turn the minimum age by Dec. 31 of the Olympic year.
Ages of Olympic gymnasts since 1896
50 years old
40
Oldest
30
Average
20
16
Minimum age
since 1997
14
since
1971
15
since
1981
10
Youngest
0
1896
1904
1912
1928
1948
1960
1972
1984
1996
2008
2020
Gymnasts must turn the minimum age by Dec. 31 of the Olympic year.
Ages of Olympic gymnasts since 1896
50 years old
40
Oldest
30
Average
20
16
Minimum age
since 1997
14
since
1971
15
since
1981
10
Youngest
0
1896
1904
1912
1928
1948
1960
1972
1984
1996
2008
2020
Gymnasts must turn the minimun age by Dec. 31 of the Olympic year.
In the 2000 Games, China was stripped of a team bronze because one of its competitors was 14, the same age as Romania’s Nadia Comaneci in 1976 when she became the first to earn perfect scores.
Few female gymnasts compete past their early 20s, but one incredible exception is Uzbekistan’s Oksana Chusovitina, who vaulted in her eighth Olympics last week at 46 — a record by nearly five years. (But even she is not the oldest-ever Olympic gymnast. In 1908, Jan de Boer competed for the Dutch men’s team at 49.)
The age limit applies to male gymnasts as well, but they tend to be older anyway because few young teen boys could develop the strength and muscle required to compete at the highest level. In Tokyo, Japanese gymnast Daiki Hashimoto, 19, became the first teenager to win the men’s all-around gold.
Examples of other sports
with age limits
Oldest, average and youngest athletes since 1896, with current age requirements.
Age
20
0
10
30
40
50
60
70
80
Average
Boxing
Between
18 and 40
18
40
Men’s Soccer
23 or under
23
Diving
14 or over
14
Throwers,
heptathletes
and decathletes
18 or over
Marathoners
and 50K
race walkers
20 or over
Track
and Field
16 or over
16
Judo
15 or over
15
Archery
16 or over
16
Taekwondo
17 Or Over
17
Equestrian
Dressage
16 or over
Horses:
8 or over
16
Jumping
18 or over
Horses:
9 or over
Eventing
18 or over
Horses:
8 or over
Examples of other sports with age limits
Oldest, average and youngest athletes since 1896, with current age requirements.
Age
70
80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Average
Boxing
18 to 40
18
40
Men’s Soccer
23 or under
23
Diving
14 or over
14
Throwers,
heptathletes
and decathletes
18 or over
Marathoners
and 50K
race walkers
20 or over
Track and Field
16 or over
16
Judo
15 or over
15
Archery
16 or over
16
Taekwondo
17 Or Over
17
Equestrian
Dressage
16 or over
Horses:
8 or over
16-18
Jumping
18 or over
Horses:
9 or over
Eventing
18 or over
Horses:
8 or over
Examples of other sports with age limits
Oldest, average and youngest athletes since 1896, with current age requirements.
Age
70
80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Average
Boxing
Between
18 and 40
18
40
Men’s Soccer
Under 23
23
Diving
14 or over
14
Track and Field
16 or over
Throwers,
heptathletes
and decathletes
18 or over
Marathoners
and 50K
race walkers
20 or over
16
Judo
15 or over
15
Archery
16 or over
16
Taekwondo
17 Or Over
17
Equestrian
16-18
Jumping
18 or over
Horses:
9 or over
Dressage
16 or over
Horses:
8 or over
Eventing
18 or over
Horses:
8 or over
Examples of other sports with age limits
Oldest, average and youngest athletes since 1896, with current age requirements.
Age
80
70
60
50
40
40
30
Avg.
23
20
18
17
16-18
16
16
15
14
10
0
Boxing
Between
18 and 40
Men’s
Soccer
23 or under
Each team gets
three over-age
exceptions
Diving
14 or over
Track and Field
16 or over
Judo
15 or over
Archery
16 or over
Taekwondo
17 or over
Equestrian
Dressage
16 or over
Horses:
8 or over
Throwers,
heptathletes
and decathletes
18 or over
Marathoners and 50K
race walkers
18 or over
Jumping
18 or over
Horses:
9 or over
Eventing
18 or over
Horses:
8 or over
Examples of other sports with age limits
Oldest, average and youngest athletes since 1896, with current age requirements.
Age
80
70
60
50
40
40
30
23
Avg.
20
18
17
16-18
16
16
15
14
10
0
Boxing
Between
18 and 40
Men’s Soccer
23 or under
Diving
14 or over
Track and Field
16 or over
Equestrian
Judo
15 or over
Archery
16 or over
Taekwondo
17 or over
Dressage
16 or over
Horses:
8 or over
Each team gets
three over-age
exceptions
Throwers,
heptathletes
and decathletes
18 or over
Marathoners and 50K
race walkers
20 or over
Jumping
18 or over
Horses:
9 or over
Eventing
18 or over
Horses:
8 or over
Naturally Zaza, the youngest athlete in Tokyo, plans to compete in the next Summer Games, but so does the oldest.
Mary Hanna of Australia, riding Calanta, performs in the dressage team competition at the Tokyo Games. (Christian Bruna/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Mary Hanna of Australia, a 66-year-old equestrian who competes in dressage, hasn’t missed an Olympics since 1996 and told NBCOlympics.com that she plans to be in Paris in 2024.
After all, she said, “It’s only three years away.”
About this story: Age data for Tokyo Olympians came from the Tokyo 2020 organizers. Historic data was collected by Randi Griffin from Sports-Reference.com’s former Olympic data site. Unless otherwise noted, athlete age record information came from Olympedia.org and Tokyo 2020 organizers. Age limits came from international governing bodies of individual sports.
Top illustration by Artur Galocha with photos by Bob Thomas/Popperfoto/Getty Images (Swahn) and Steph Chambers/Getty Images (Zaza). Pictograms by Álvaro Valiño for The Washington Post. Kevin Schaul contributed to this report.
