Age no barrier at Paris 2024

The Paris 2024 Olympics will feature veteran athletes like Andy Murray, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and 70-year-old Mary Hanna, marking a significant farewell for some.

PARIS | Xinhua |  British tennis star and two-time Olympic champion, Andy Murray, is to retire after Paris 2024, which highlights that the forthcoming festival of sport will not only see some new stars burst onto the scene, but also be the last chance for some veterans to bow out in style.

Murray will be hoping his back holds up as he competes in both singles and doubles, but he is far from the only veteran competing – and one in particular has a great chance of gold.

Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is competing at her fifth Olympics, aiming to be on the podium for the women’s 100 meters for an incredible fifth time.

The 37-year-old has also won five 100 meters World Championships and is the third fastest woman of all time, but in a sport where many burn bright and quickly, her career has lasted.

Thirty-seven seems to be a popular age, because Chinese 20-kilometer walker Liu Hong shares that age with Murray and Fraser-Pryce, and she too competes in her fifth Games, after finishing fourth in Beijing, taking silver in London 2012, gold in the heat of Rio 2016 and bronze in Tokyo in 2021.

Other Chinese athletes who are well into their 30’s are shot-putter Gong Lijiao, with the 35-year-old also at her fifth Olympics.

In a different sport, the U.S. volleyball team has bags of experience in Matt Anderson, who is 37, and 38-year-old, David Smith – both of whom are at their fourth Olympics, while 39-year-old Gyorgy Grozer will once again be vital as Germany looks for glory in the same sport.

Led by Lebron James, the U.S. team are the favorites to claim basketball gold. The 39-year-old power-forward is also expected to be the flag bearer for his country at Friday’s opening ceremony.

Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal refuses to say goodbye and the 38-year-old looks for gold at his favorite venue of all time – Roland Garros, where he has won an incredible 14 times in his astonishing career. The irony is that perhaps it’s Spanish young gun, Carlos Alcaraz, who could deny Nadal his perfect Olympic “adios.”

Always expect Brazil to do well at football and even more so with their women’s football team led by Marta Viera da Silva. The legendary player holds the record for being Brazil’s top goalscorer with 118 goals and over 180 appearances for her country.

Brazil faces world champion Spain in a tough qualifying group and although there are no veterans in the Spanish football team, it’s different in kayaking, where Maialen Chourraut competes in her fifth Olympics at the age of 41 after taking bronze in London, gold in Rio and silver in Tokyo.

Chourraut will go for gold in K1 and Kayak Cross and admitted that the arrival of the latter as an Olympic event was one reason she had kept on training with a view to Paris.

But in terms of age and Olympic experience, all of the above fall well short of Mary Hanna, who is the emergency reserve for Team Australia in dressage.

Hanna who made her Olympic debut in Atlanta 1996, will turn 70 in December and is the oldest athlete taking part in the Paris Games, ahead of Canadian duo of Jill Irving and Mario Deslauriers, who are 61 and 59 and also compete in the equestrian events.  ■