Old Guys/Gals Rule!

by Chris Fontecchio on Sep 10, 2008 3:00 PM EDT in News

One very intriguing aspect of the Armstrong comeback is the message it sends to the world about endurance athletics and the age group of people who should feel invited to take part. On an amateur level, it's no secret that you can run, bike, swim, etc., a whole lot, well into your 50s and 60s, perhaps even longer. But Lance Armstrong is calling attention to a minor trend in sports, where people beyond the magic drop-(sports)-dead age of 35 are very competitive, perhaps even 100% as competitive as they had been in their purported peak. Sure, knees and ankles and shoulders and elbows get old, but the core muscles hang on for quite a while, and with modern conditioning, "hanging on" is shorthand for "as good as ever."

Armstrong cites swimmer Dara Torres as having planted the seed in his head that he wasn't done merely because he was 37. He also mentioned a few marathoners, men and women. He could have mentioned others: Joop Zoetemelk, oldest world champion at 38 years, 9 months, and winner of Amstel Gold at 40. Jeannie Longo, Olympic gold medalist at 38, world champion at 42, and still going strong at 50. Erik Zabel, who's Lance's age and retains everything but that last little burst of sprint speed. I'll look forward to hearing from y'all about the numerous examples I'm leaving out.

For an endurance athlete, the timeline of the typical career has more to do with burnout and life choices than loss of performance, or so Armstrong says. Once again, Lance isn't like normal people: he didn't put off having a family, and has a stable enough post-divorce life to afford a cycling comeback. He had some long breaks in his career, for cancer and retirement, to ease the burnout factor. He still has a one-in-a-million cardiovascular system. He has a resume that will open/knock down every door in the sport. As old guys go, Lance is as logical a person to keep on going as anyone.

Will this prove to cyclists and other endurance athletes that they shouldn't dismiss their late-30s/early-40s ability to compete, if that's what they want to be doing? Will this open the floodgates for other late-EPO-era riders like Ullrich and Cipo* and Boogerd* and god knows who else to come back and check out the new, clean version of Cycling? Everything Lance does is big, whether he means it to be or not, and this message to older athletes may be the biggest lasting effect of his latest venture.

*not calling a doper; just of the era.

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It's "Dara"...and we were on the same HS swim team.

If I had nothing else to do with my life but stretch and be massaged, and if I had her build, I could probably turn in a pretty fast 50m too. At least, as fast as when I was 18, which isn’t saying much! ; )

Fair question how much of the age “limit” is actually wear and burnout, rather than decay. I’d say the number of old guys doing untramarathons suggests a lot if it is cumulative injury, joint wear and exhaustion. But who’s going to take an uninjured season off during their 20’s in the hopes of gaining 2 spare years in their 40’s? Only those who are forced to.

Kind of sad if we’ve handed them a longer career on a plate, in exchange for dopage, no?

by JFS_PGH on Sep 10, 2008 3:22 PM EDT reply actions

fixed!

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris Fontecchio on Sep 10, 2008 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

Fair question how much of the age "limit" is actually wear and burnout, rather than decay. I’d say the number of old guys doing untramarathons suggests a lot if it is cumulative injury, joint wear and exhaustion. But who’s going to take an uninjured season off during their 20’s in the hopes of gaining 2 spare years in their 40’s? Only those who are forced to.

by nicknorco on Sep 10, 2008 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions

and this...

If I had nothing else to do with my life but stretch and be massaged, and if I had her build…/blockquote>

by nicknorco on Sep 10, 2008 5:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Levi says he is still peaking cause he started late...

…so lance will be working for him…

I do think it is valid in some instances – Malcolm Elliot, Gagioli, Overend all had success though on a smaller scale but were all riding very well deep into their 40’s and in the case of Overend, in his 50’s and still kicking ass.

by humbug1 on Sep 10, 2008 3:39 PM EDT reply actions

But look at Elliott in the ToI and the ToB. He’s just working for the team.

pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway

by fmk on Sep 10, 2008 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Just working for the team?

The man is 47! He’s been racing pro for 25 years. The fact that he is even there at all is unreal.

by Jimbo... on Sep 10, 2008 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Actually I find something almost sad about it. About the state of British racing.

pounding along in three ratios like a sonata
like a Ritter with pommelled scrotum atra cura on the step
Botticelli from the fork down pestling the transmission
tires bleeding voiding zeep the highway

by fmk on Sep 10, 2008 5:27 PM EDT up reply actions

so does that mean we all can....

…nah.

by JFS_PGH on Sep 10, 2008 3:41 PM EDT reply actions

Sure!

I’m no more or less mediocre than I was ten years ago.

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris Fontecchio on Sep 10, 2008 4:45 PM EDT up reply actions

same here

amateur cyclists can go for a looooong time. I think it’s possible because few amateurs get near limits that are imposed by genetics or physiology. Rather, they don’t have time to train, or know how to train, etc…

I’m 37. I’m actually stronger and faster than I was right out of college. I can even sprint better than I could at age 21. I think the main age related physical difference that I experience personally is that I’m tired and sore all the time during the cycling season, while I was rarely tired at age 21.

I race with 50+ year olds that hang right in there (as I’m sure many folks do here). A 55 y.o. guy I used to race with was a former track sprinter, and he could still light up the wheels in a crit. It’s nice to know that I can keep banging away for the next 10+ years without giving in to age.

In pro cycling, where the entire field is trained to the max, I think physiology and genetics are much more important. I’ve read that VO2 max declines at 40. I think it will be very interesting to see how well LA does—can his untrained body handle a 3 week tour? I’m guessing no.

by KevinK on Sep 11, 2008 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Another example...

Paolo Maldini, who turned 40 this summer has just started his 25th season with one of the top teams (AC Milan) in one of the world’s top leagues (Serie A) in football (or soccer as some Americans insist on calling it)

There are some times when his age shows, but most of the time he still plays like a 20-something year old – he’s regarded by all as one of the ultimate pro’s and as for any scandal etc, there’s never been even a hint of it near his career

by Gemma on Sep 10, 2008 5:04 PM EDT reply actions

That

is actually even more extraordinary. OK, as a defender you dish out more than you receive. But calcio is awfully hard on the joints.

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris Fontecchio on Sep 10, 2008 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Tell me about it

there’s pretty much nothing left of the guy’s knees and I remember an interview with him last season (he doesn’t give many, prefers to let his football do the talking) when he remarked that he knew what kind of day it was going to be by the weather when he got up in the morning – sunny days are good ones, cold or rain not so good – bless

And yeah Paolo is incredibly special. As a Milan fan I’m glad we don’t have to deal with life post-Paolo this season (he was due to retire at the end of last season, but was playing so well he decided to stay on one more year) but I dread when he finally calls it a day at the end of this season.

by Gemma on Sep 10, 2008 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions

AC MIlan is all about this

perhaps was the most old team in Euro Ligue, when won 2 years ago, but football is very different,

Another example is Ricardo Carvalho, he loosing his acelleration every year but his time reaction and anticiption is better.

by semprenaroda on Sep 10, 2008 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh I know football is different, but that doesn’t change the fact it’s very rare nowadays to be playing at that age at the top of the game still, hence I figured he was another example for the list :)

by Gemma on Sep 10, 2008 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes Football is different - those names were never outed by Feuntes...

by humbug1 on Sep 10, 2008 8:10 PM EDT up reply actions

And how could you forget Jens!

who is still kicking ass and taking numbers and is around the same age as Armstrong

by Gemma on Sep 10, 2008 5:37 PM EDT reply actions

Rebellin

by semprenaroda on Sep 10, 2008 5:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Gordie f***ing Howe!

Still playing pro hockey when he was 50. Even got to play on the same team as his 2 sons! Great old time hockey player, dude did everything, they even coined a term for him, the “Gordie Howe hat trick”: a goal, an assist and a fight!

by plinytheelder on Sep 10, 2008 6:46 PM EDT reply actions

+1

my absolute fave NHL player when i was a kid…

by nicknorco on Sep 10, 2008 8:29 PM EDT up reply actions

speaking of hockey

how about Chris Chelios? he just signed another 1-yr contract with Detroit at age 47 … my husband was commenting earlier tonight that Chelios has been involved in every major hockey event “since the dawn of time” (from our perspective).

by guidemd on Sep 10, 2008 11:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Uhh, hello? Jeannie Longo?

Born in 1958.
55x French Nat’l Champion (the first in 1979, I think).
Competed in her first Olympics in 1984.
Placed 4th at the 2008 Olys in the TT.
etc.

by marian on Sep 10, 2008 8:32 PM EDT reply actions

2nd paragraph

4th sentence. She’s the prototype.

"If writing too much about the Classics is wrong, I don't want to be right."

by Chris Fontecchio on Sep 11, 2008 2:03 AM EDT up reply actions

Boogerd too?

In a Dutch television show Boogerd said that he would consider a return if he gets a good offer. He recently seperated from his wife so he has the time I’d say. However, which team will give him an offer after his painful break with Rabobank earlier this year?

He’d still be a worldclass domestique I guess.

by Lopex on Sep 11, 2008 8:05 AM EDT reply actions

80 years and still going strong

A dane Henning Kjær Jørgensen just won the WM for senior RR in Austria. He will be 80 years old in just 2 days. The race was 40 km and started with an 11 % mountain for 5 km. He was the first on the top and vent alone the next 35 km and won the race.
He started riding a bike in road races in 1944 and have been competing since then, but he will not race when he is 85 because then he will be competing against the 80 years old.
Just saw it yesterday in the TV, well not the race, but the old man, he looked fit.

by LittleOldLady on Sep 11, 2008 9:57 AM EDT reply actions