By John Henderson, for CPR News
Lindsey Vonn’s attempt at winning an Olympic medal at 41 is incomparable to other accomplishments of aging athletes.
Some are her age. Some have come back from injury. Some have come out of retirement. But none have done all three, not to mention reaching the pinnacle nine days after blowing out their ACL, as Vonn is trying to do.
Here’s a look at some worthy candidates:
Venus Williams, tennis. She took a 16-month break and had an open myomectomy surgery, but returned to the Washington Open last year at 45. She lost in the second round and the first round of her next four tournaments.
Archie Moore, boxing. Won the world light heavyweight title at 39 by defeating Joey Maxim in 1952.
George Foreman, boxing. Returned from not fighting for a year and a half in 1994 to defeat Michael Moorer by TKO at 45 years old to become the oldest world heavyweight champion. He later won the WBO title and defended it twice at 48, when he lost to Shannon Briggs. However, boxing was a scrambled mess in the 1990s.
Tom Brady, football. Retired for 40 days, then returned to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 24-9 record, the best back-to-back records in franchise history. That included the Super Bowl title in 2021.
Sugar Ray Leonard, boxing. Returned from retirement twice at 32 and 40, finally getting knocked out by Hector Camacho in 1997 at 41.
Michael Phelps, swimming. Retired after the 2012 Olympics but returned in 2014 to compete in the 2016 Olympics, where he won five gold medals — two individuals — and a silver at 31.
Nolan Ryan, baseball. Pitched a no-hitter at 44 in 1991. But he didn’t come out of retirement.
Michael Jordan, basketball. Returned for the 2021-22 season after a three-season retirement at 38, and played two seasons with the Washington Wizards, averaging 22.9 and 20.00 points per game.
John Henderson is a former sportswriter for The Denver Post and lives in Rome.
