-- Old dogs teaching young new tricks
Age defying sporting prowess is strangely liberating. It exposes the great con – that the only kind of performance you should expect from an athlete aged over 35 years is a flagging one. Not the case in this modern era of grey haired sporting triumph.
Bringing new hope to all athletes who should have hung up their kit years ago, Lance Armstrong, at the ripe old age of 37, will become Tour de France’s oldest winner should he pull off an improbable eight victory in July this year. He reckons age is a wives’ tale. Sure, his back gets tired quicker, but on the bike he feels just as good as he did before, he says.
Then there’s Spanish cycling veteran and super domestique Iñigo Cuesta (40 in June) who will this season (his 18th as a professional) help current Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre defend his crown. Not bad for a professional athlete with a career dating back to the reign of Miguel Indurain.
And who can forget the feats (and looks) of 41-year-old swimmer and three times silver medalist at last year’s Beijing Olympics, Dara Torres.
The list goes on.
It is said the mind grows tired before the body wilts. Those fateful words, I’ve had enough, often come long before physical incapability. Fifty year-old French born professional cyclist Jeannie Longo is living proof of a body with the mind to match.
Keep pushing it hard. In most cases the body will outlast the mind.
About the photo (Ernie Old)
In 1954, marathon cyclist Ernie Old completed an 80-day bicycle ride, averaging 80 miles per day and finishing on his 80th birthday in Albert Park in Melbourne. This was just one of his remarkable feats – he also served in two wars, patented several inventions and made Prime Minister Robert Menzies an offer he almost couldn’t refuse.
Bringing new hope to all athletes who should have hung up their kit years ago, Lance Armstrong, at the ripe old age of 37, will become Tour de France’s oldest winner should he pull off an improbable eight victory in July this year. He reckons age is a wives’ tale. Sure, his back gets tired quicker, but on the bike he feels just as good as he did before, he says.
Then there’s Spanish cycling veteran and super domestique Iñigo Cuesta (40 in June) who will this season (his 18th as a professional) help current Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre defend his crown. Not bad for a professional athlete with a career dating back to the reign of Miguel Indurain.
And who can forget the feats (and looks) of 41-year-old swimmer and three times silver medalist at last year’s Beijing Olympics, Dara Torres.
The list goes on.
It is said the mind grows tired before the body wilts. Those fateful words, I’ve had enough, often come long before physical incapability. Fifty year-old French born professional cyclist Jeannie Longo is living proof of a body with the mind to match.
Keep pushing it hard. In most cases the body will outlast the mind.
About the photo (Ernie Old)
In 1954, marathon cyclist Ernie Old completed an 80-day bicycle ride, averaging 80 miles per day and finishing on his 80th birthday in Albert Park in Melbourne. This was just one of his remarkable feats – he also served in two wars, patented several inventions and made Prime Minister Robert Menzies an offer he almost couldn’t refuse.
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