The age of various Olympic athletes competing for medals at the Paris Games is a prime example of age being nothing but a number.
A competitive spirit is found within those both young and old at the 2024 Olympic Games, with athletes across multiple generations vying for the gold.
At this year’s Summer Games in Paris, the youngest athlete competing is from China.
More than 50 years separate the oldest athlete competing in the 2024 Summer Games and the youngest. (Zhe Ji/Getty Images; Musall/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
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Zheng Haohao, 11, is a skateboarder competing in the park event. She’s not only the youngest athlete at the games this year. She is also China’s youngest athlete to ever compete in the Olympic Games, according to The Independent.
The young skateboarder only started taking up an interest in the sport four years ago and started competing in global events last year. She is now competing in front of the world at the 2024 Olympic Games.
“Competition to me is just to get together with my good friends,” Zheng said in an interview with CCTV, according to Reuters. “I know over 10 of the world’s top 20 skateboarders.
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“It’s like we are playing a fun game. Everyone has to show the best they’ve got.”
Zheng Haohao is an 11-year-old skateboarder competing in the 2024 Olympic Games. (He Canling/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Historically, the youngest athlete to compete in the Summer Olympics was Dimitrios Loundras, a male athlete from Greece, according to NBC.
He was 10 when he won a bronze medal in gymnastics at the 1896 Athens Olympics.
The youngest female to ever compete was 11-year-old Luigina Giavotti, who competed on the Italian gymnastics team during the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, according to the outlet.
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The oldest athlete competing this year is over 50 years older than Haohao. Equestrian Juan Antonio Jiménez of Spain, who is 65, is going for a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Juan Antonio Jiménez, 65, of Spain is the oldest athlete competing in this year’s Olympics. (Jenny Musall/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Jiménez is competing in his third Olympic Games. His debut was in 2000 during the Sydney Games.
In 2004, he won a silver medal in Athens.
There is an equestrian even older than Jiménez who is at the Olympic Games this year, but she will likely not be competing.
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Mary Hanna, a 69-year-old from Australia is an AP athlete, or a non-competing athlete, meaning she will step in if another athlete is to injured or unable to compete for any reason.
On July 11, Hanna posted a video of herself training with her horse on Instagram, sharing her excitement about making an Olympic appearance for the seventh time.
“Getting excited now,” Hanna wrote. “We are ready for whatever unfolds. Training hard for Paris Olympics. So looking forward to supporting our team.”
The oldest athlete ever to compete in the Summer Olympics was Oscar Swahn, who was nearly 73 when he competed in shooting during the 1920 Antwerp Games, according to NBC. He qualified for the 1924 Olympics in Paris when he was 76 but did not compete in those games.
Team USA’s youngest athlete at the 2024 Olympic Games is gymnast Hezly Rivera, who is 16. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
The oldest female to ever compete was Lorna Johnstone if Great Britain, who competed both in team and individual equestrian events during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
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The youngest athlete competing on behalf of the United States this year is gymnast Hezly Rivera, who is 16. This is Rivera’s first Olympics.
The oldest Team USA athlete at the 2024 Paris Olympics is 59-year-old equestrian Steffen Peters. Peters is returning for his sixth Olympics with three medals already under his belt.
