5 of the youngest and 5 of the oldest athletes competing at the Beijing Olympics
There's a wide range of ages competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Both of the youngest competitors, Anezka Indrackova and Kamila Valieva, are 15 years old.
German skater Claudia Pechstein is 49, and 40-year-old Nick Baumgartner is the oldest American.
Anezka Indrackova, a 15-year-old Czech ski jumper, is the youngest athlete competing at the Beijing Games.
Anezka Indrackova entered the Beijing Olympics, her first elite competition, at just 15.
Her ski-jumping event, the women's normal-hill individual, took place early on in the Games. Indrackova placed 30th.
Another 15-year-old, Kamila Valieva, is at the Beijing Games for figure skating.
Russian Olympic Committee figure skater Kamila Valieva was widely considered a favorite at the Beijing Games.
At only 15, she impressed the figure-skating world during her first year on the senior circuit.
But Valieva recently made headlines when she tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart drug that's banned by global anti-doping officials, in a drug test taken in December. The drug is typically used to treat heart-related conditions but is taken by some athletes as a way to boost endurance.
On Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled she was cleared to continue competing in upcoming events, though it's still undecided if she will be able to keep any medals she wins.
Figure skater Alysa Liu is Team USA's youngest athlete at 16 years old.
Alysa Liu championed the senior figure-skating circuit at just 13 years old back in 2019. Now, the figure-skating star has made her Olympic debut at 16.
She completed her short program, and she'll compete for a medal during the free skate on Thursday.
Matěj Švancer competed in freestyle skiing for Austria at 17.
Matěj Švancer fell in love with skiing at an early age, and by the time he was 10, he enrolled in a sports-focused school.
He took home the gold for the big-air event at the 2020 Youth Olympics when he was 15, and he made his Olympic debut in Beijing, placing 8th in slopestyle and 26th in big air.
Speed skater Jordan Stolz is representing Team USA at just 17 years old.
Wisconsin speed skater Jordan Stolz qualified for the Beijing Games with a standout performance at the men's 1000-meter event at the US Olympic long-track trials.
His record-breaking time of 1:07.62 beat out his former coach Shani Davis' times from 2006 and 2010.
Stolz's placed 13th in the men's 500-meter in Beijing, and he's set to skate in the men's 1,000-meter later this week.
The oldest hockey player participating in the Beijing Games is Hanae Kubo, a 39-year-old from Japan.
Born in 1982, Japan's Hana Kubo is the oldest hockey player competing at the Beijing Olympics.
She's a four-time medalist at the Asian Winter Games and participated in the Winter Olympics in 2014 and 2018.
She's also currently a player on the Seibu Princess Rabbits, a team in the Women's Japan Ice Hockey League.
Nick Baumgartner is Team USA's oldest athlete at 40 years old.
At 40 years old, Nick Baumgartner is the oldest Olympian representing USA this year. Previously, Baumgartner competed at the 2010, 2014, and 2018 Games.
This year, he came in 10th at the men's snowboard-cross event, and he took home gold with 36-year-old Lindsey Jacobellis at the mixed-team snowboard cross. They became the oldest and second-oldest snowboarders to medal, respectively.
"You're never too late to take what you want from life," Baumgartner told ESPN after winning gold.
Johan Clarey, a 41-year-old representing France, is the oldest Olympic medalist in Beijing.
A member of France's alpine-skiing team, Johan Clarey earned silver in the men's downhill event, making him the oldest competitor at the Beijing Games to win a medal, so far.
This was his first Olympic medal after competing in five previous Winter Games.
Norway's Torger Nergård, who's 47 years old, is the oldest male competitor in Beijing.
Curling champion Torger Nergård is competing in his sixth Olympic Games. He took home the gold during his debut in 2002, and he won silver in 2010.
Nergård is the oldest man competing this year and the first curler to compete at six consecutive Olympic Winter Games.
Claudia Pechstein, a German speed skater, took to the ice at nearly 50 years old.
Five-time gold medalist Claudia Pechstein is the oldest woman ever to compete at the Winter Olympics and the second person to complete in eight Winter Games.
She turns 50 on February 22, two days after the closing ceremony in Beijing.
The speed skater, who represents Germany, has earned nine medals throughout her career, so far.
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