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10 Oldest Olympic Athletes at the Tokyo Summer Games

While some are veterans of their sports, others began competing later in life

spinner image 18 July 2021, Japan, Tokio: Two people stand on a bay in front of the oversized Olympic rings. The rings stand on a raft in Tokyo Bay in front of the Odaiba district. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be held from July 23, 2021 to Aug. 8, 2021. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa (Photo by Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images)
picture alliance/Getty Images

Olympic athletes come in all shapes, sizes and, yes, ages. Competitors in this year's Summer Games range from as young as 12 — Syrian table tennis prodigy Hend Zaza — to as old as 66. What they all have in common are dedication, skill and passion for their respective sports. Here are the 10 oldest athletes from around the world set to participate in Tokyo's Olympic Games.

Mary Hanna, 66, Australia

spinner image Australia's Mary Hanna, riding Boogie Woogie 6, competes in the equestrian dressage competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Australia's Mary Hanna, riding Boogie Woogie 6, competes in the equestrian dressage competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
John Locher/AP Images

Equestrian

Hanna began riding on her parents’ farm at age 4, and later, at 61, became the oldest Australian athlete to ever compete at the Olympics. Now, at 66, she will be the second-oldest woman in Olympics history, after U.K. equestrian Lorna Johnstone, who was 70 at the 1972 Games.

Andrew Hoy, 62, Australia

spinner image TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 14: Andrew Hoy of Australia with Bloom Des Hauts Crets at the horse inspection prior to the Jumping during day three of the Equestrian Tokyo 2020 Test Event at the Equestrian Park on August 14, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Getty Images)
Andrew Hoy of Australia with Bloom Des Hauts Crets at the horse inspection prior to the Jumping during day three of the Equestrian Tokyo 2020 Test Event.
Toru Hanai/Getty Images

Equestrian

Hoy, who has competed in all but two of the Summer Olympics since 1984, has won three gold medals and one silver. He has already participated in more Olympics than any other Australian athlete.

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Geir Gulliksen, 61, Norway

spinner image Geir Gulliksen of Norway and his horse Groep Quatro wins the FEI Jumping World Cup competition a the Gothenburg Horse Show at Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden, Sunday Feb. 23, 202. (Bjorn Larsson Rosvall/TT via AP)
Geir Gulliksen of Norway and his horse Groep Quatro wins the FEI Jumping World Cup competition a the Gothenburg Horse Show at Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Bjorn Larsson Rosvall/AP Images

Equestrian

Although he began riding at age 12, Gulliksen didn't compete in his first Olympic Games until he was 48. Last year, in Sweden, he won his first World Cup title.

Santiago Lange, 59, Argentina

spinner image  Interview with Santiago Lange, Olympic sailor. Winner of the gold medal at the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro
Soledad Aznarez/AP Images

Sailing

At 6, he was encouraged to take up sailing by his father, who also sailed competitively. Lange, who has won a gold and two bronze medals, will be one of Argentina's flag bearers during Tokyo's opening ceremony.

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spinner image Morocco's Abdelkebir Ouaddar competes during the 'Grand Prix Hermes' International Jumping Competition at the Grand Palais in Paris, France on March 20, 2016. Photo by Christian Liewig/Sipa USA
Morocco's Abdelkebir Ouaddar competes during the 'Grand Prix Hermes' International Jumping Competition at the Grand Palais in Paris, France.
Liewig Christian/AP Images

Equestrian

As a child, Ouaddar was fascinated yet terrified by horses. He overcame his fear after he was adopted by the Moroccan Royal Family and learned how to ride.

spinner image Savate Sresthaporn, 58, Olympic shooting athlete from Thailand
Savate Sresthaporn

Shooting

The 58-year-old didn't begin shooting until 2007, after a friend encouraged him to try it out. He entered his first competition a year later. Tokyo will be his first Olympics.

Ni Xia Lian, 58, Luxembourg

spinner image Luxembourg's NI Xia Lian in action during the mixed qualifiers at the Table Tennis World Championships in Duesseldorf, Germany, 29 May 2017. Photo by: Rolf Vennenbernd/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
Luxembourg's NI Xia Lian in action during the mixed qualifiers at the Table Tennis World Championships in Duesseldorf, Germany.
Rolf Vennenbernd/AP Images

Table Tennis

Thirty-eight years after she won the table tennis world title in Tokyo in 1983, Xia Lian returns to the city for her fifth Olympic competition. Her record match at the 2017 Austrian Open lasted for one hour, 33 minutes and 42 seconds.

Abdullah Al-Rashidi, 57, Kuwait

spinner image Abdullah Al-Rashidi, right, an independent athlete from Kuwait competing on the Refugee Olympic Team, celebrates winning the bronze medal during the victory ceremony for the men's skeet gold medal match at the Olympic Shooting Center at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Hassan Ammar/AP Images

Shooting

Al-Rashidi, who started shooting competitively in 1989, has participated in each Olympics since 1996. He won the bronze medal at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

spinner image Phillip Dutton, a medal-winning equestrian on the U.S. Olympic team, smiles after a training session at his farm, Thursday, April 2, 2020, in West Grove, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Phillip Dutton, a medal-winning equestrian on the U.S. Olympic team, smiles after a training session at his farm.
Matt Slocum/AP Images

Equestrian

The Australian-born equestrian, entering his seventh Olympic Games, came to the U.S. in 1991 to train in a more competitive environment. Dutton, who has won two gold medals and one bronze, began competing for the U.S. in 2007 and today splits his time between Pennsylvania and South Carolina.

Enrique Figueroa, 57, Puerto Rico

spinner image 25 de Julio de 2018 BARRANQUILLA, COLOMBIA Central American and Caribbean game, Barranquilla day 7, sailing competition. In the photo are Enrique Figueroa and Francheska Valdes
ANDRE KANG/AP Images

Sailing

Figueroa says the Tokyo Games, his fifth Olympics, will be his last. The decorated athlete first sailed at age 10 when his family bought a small boat.