Golden Oldies: As Aksel Svindal becomes oldest Alpine Olympic champion, here are the greatest of all time

Age ain’t nothing but a number as Aaliyah once told us. And Norwegian olympian Aksel Svindal would surely agree, having just become the oldest man to win an Olympic Alpine skiing gold medal at 35 years and 51 days.

The man who would now be old enough to play veterans football should he wish, stormed to victory in the men’s downhill at the age of 35 with a time of 1:40.25, eclipsing team-mate Kjetil Jansrud by 0.12 seconds, with Switzerland’s Beat Feuz taking bronze. It was his fourth career Olympic medal, having taken one of each colour – including downhill silver – in Vancouver in 2010.

READ MORE: Parsons moves to within striking distance of a medal

READ MORE: Musgrave will be Olympic champion one day insists Norway coach

READ MORE: Sporting Dames give Elise Christie a timely confidence boost

Svindal came back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in a crash in 2016 to win, which is impressive as it normally takes me a month to recover from any form of sport. He said: “It feels pretty good. I’m extremely happy. “World Cup wins, I’ve been there a few times and know how that feels, but this is different.”

But where does his achievement rank in a list of the world’s oldest sporting winners?

Olympics

When it comes to Olympic golds Svindal is way behind the literal golden oldies. The early 1900s were the time to win summer Olympic medals for veterans (probably because hardly anyone else took part back then) with Swede Oscar Swahn taking gold aged 64 years and 280 days old for shooting in 1912. The oldest female gold medalist is Brit archer Sybil “Queenie” Newall who won gold in the Double National Round four years earlier, aged 53 years and 275 days.

In the Winter Olympics the oldest woman to win gold is German Sylke Otto for the luge in 2006, aged 36 years and 222 days. In a team event Swedish curler Anette Norberg holds the record for gold aged 43 years and 104 days in 2010. The oldest ever male gold medalist at the Winter Olympics is Norwegian Ole Einar Bjørndalen won gold at the 10 km biathlon sprint aged 40 at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. In a team event, Robin Welsh Senior from Great Britain won gold in curling at the 1924 Games, aged 54 years and 101 days.

GB’s oldest summer olympics gold winner, by the way, is Joshua Millner, who claimed shooting gold in 1908 at the age of 61, which let’s face it makes me feel very young again.

Football

What’s the biggest prize in football? Obviously it’s the World Cup. And the oldest winner of the World Cup? One Dino Zoff; legendary Italian goalkeeper who was between the sticks for the Azzurri for the 1982 tournament in Spain which they won. He was 40 years old, four months and three days when he lifted the trophy and became the last player to win the World Cup whose name reminds me of dinosaurs.

The oldest winner of the Premier League, which obviously is the next most important tournament on the planet after the World Cup, is Australian Mark Schwarzer although he didn’t actually play in any of Leicester’s games during he 2015/16 season. But he is still recognised, at 43, as the oldest PL winner, as opposed to Arjen Robben who, at 22 years old in 2005, was the oldest-looking Premier League winner.

The oldest FA Cup winner was Newcastle United full-back Billy Hampson, who was 41 years and 257 days old when his side beat Aston Villa 2–0 in the 1924 final and not, surprisingly, Stanley Matthews, while the oldest – and coincidentally best looking – Champions League winner is the evergreen Paolo Maldini. He was 38 years, 331 days when he captained AC Milan to victory against Liverpool in the 2007 final, his fifth triumph in the competition. What a man.

Tennis

Tennis records are basically dominated by two people; Serena Williams and Roger Federer. Williams, the greatest female tennis player of all time, won the Australian Open last year to become the oldest player in the womens’ game to win a Grand Slam title at 35 years, four months and two days. Oh and did I mention she was LITERALLY PREGNANT AT THE TIME?

She also holds the record for the oldest Wimbledon womens’ singles winner in the modern era at 34 years and 287 days in 2016 although has some way to go to beat Charlotte “Chattie” Sterry, who claimed the title in 1908 at the age of 37 years and 282 days. But knowing Williams, you wouldn’t put it past her.

Swiss legend Federer – the male Serena Williams – also continues to get better with age, like a fine wine, or in his case a fine Toblerone bar. When he lifted the Wimbledon title last year he became the oldest man to do so in the modern era at 35 years and 342 days. The oldest winner at SW17 ever though, is Brit Artur Gore who was 41 when he won the 1909 title.

Federer has to wait a couple of years before he becomes the oldest male open era Grand Slam winner, though. That accolade goes to Australian Ken Rosewall who won the Australian Open in 1972 at the age of 37 years, two months and one day.

Boxing

Everyone assumes George Foreman is boxing’s oldest champion and for a time he was. His 1994 WBA victory over Michael Moorer at the age of 45 years and 10 months made him a record holder and that stood for seven years until one Bernard Hopkins won the WBC and lineal light heavyweight titles aged 46 years, four months and six days in 2011.

Hopkins – for some reason known as “The Executioner” and later “The Alien” – then went on to break his own record twice in 2013 and 2014, retiring in 2016 as the oldest champion in boxing history at 49 years old and 297 days.

And as far as I know, Hopkins has never had his face on a grill.

NFL

One former NFL legend cheered the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl win this month more than most and that man was Peyton Manning, who remains the oldest ever quarter-back to win the Vince Lombardo trophy at 39-years-old.

Had the New England Patriots won as they were expected to do so, 40-year-old Tom Brady would have taken his record but his side were defeated 41-33 in Super Bowl LII, meaning Manning still holds the record after his Bronco’s side beat the Panthers in 2016. Well done him, just don’t mention it to Eli.