Older Olympians Still Got Game in London

Australia

The first Australian to compete in seven Olympiads, Hoy helped lead his country to gold medals in team eventing (combination of dressage, cross-country and jumping) in 1992, 1996 and 2000, when he also won a silver medal in individual eventing.

Belgium

Lansink led the Netherlands to a gold medal in the team jumping event in 1992, but he'll be competing for Belgium this time around. "This could be my last Olympic Games, and that is why I will go the extra mile," he promised in April.

Denmark

The two-time Danish national champion (right in photo) competed in her first Olympics in Seoul in 1988, and won a bronze medal in team dressage in Beijing in 2008. This will be her fifth Olympiad. When not competing, van Olst manages a Danish dressage stable, training horses and teaching young riders.

Great Britain

King spent years working as a gardener and cook to finance her riding career. She's been national champion four times and in her five previous Olympic appearances helped Great Britain to a team silver in 2004 and a team bronze in 2008. In 1995, she led helped country to a team gold in a European cross-country equestrian event while five months pregnant.

Great Britain

The resilient jumper retired briefly from the sport in 2001, after suffering a severe neck injury, only to return to competition the following year. After hip replacement surgery in 2011, he made yet another comeback, winning a bronze at the European showjumping championships. He's been to six previous Olympics, but so far, a medal has eluded him.

Japan

The dressage rider, amazingly, isn't quite the oldest Olympian in the history of the Games. That distinction is still held by Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn, who competed in 1920 at age 72. But Hoketsu may have had the most extended comeback. He competed in the 1964 Games in his hometown of Tokyo, and didn't reappear until Beijing, 44 years later.

New Zealand

He won golds in individual eventing at the 1984 and 1988 Games, in addition to a team bronze in 1988, a team silver in 1992 and an individual bronze in 2000. He retired in 2000 to breed horses on his farm, and coached in the 2004 Games before returning as a competitor in 2008.

Sweden

He goes to London as reigning individual jumping champion of the World Cup Western European League, and hopes to finally snare a gold after winning silvers at Beijing and Athens. Bengtsson, who took up jumping on his parents' farm at age 9, has a degree in mechanical engineering.

United States

After two near misses, Konyot finally made the U.S. Olympic team in 2012 by coming in a close second to Steffan Peters at the trials in June. She teaches riding and trains horses at her farm in Connecticut and comes from five generations of riders, including a grandmother who was both a bareback equestrian and a ballerina, and incorporated both arts into her performances.

Azerbaijan

This grandmother will compete in London in 25-meter pistol and 10-meter air-pistol shooting. She was a bronze medalist in the 25-meter pistol event in 2004. Ashumova coaches at her country's Institute of Physical Culture and has two children who are also competitive shooters. She herself is coached by her husband, Vladimir Lunyov.

Germany

A pistol shooter, Schumann (left in photo) has been competing at the elite international level for more than three decades. He won a silver medal at Seoul in 1988 in the 25-meter rapid-fire pistol event as a member of East Germany's Olympic squad. Since then, he's competed in five Olympiads, winning gold medals in 1992, 1996 and 2004, and taking a silver medal in 2008.