"Few professionals suffer more from ageism than athletes. Heaven forfend an NFL star or an Olympian become 40ish on the field of play. That's known as "staying too long" and "tainting their legacy." Fans and commentators seem to want athletes to retire before they lose the luster of their prime and start looking knee sore-an expectation that, judging by the recent exploits of the skier Lindsey Vonn and the quarterback Philip Rivers, has cheated audiences out of who knows how many gladdening third acts."
"What a corrective to such nonsense Vonn is. Last Friday, at the age of 41 and on a partially replaced right knee, she sprayed the snow of St. Moritz at 70 miles an hour in the downhill event to become the oldest skier, woman or man, ever to win a World Cup race. Her last World Cup victory had come seven years earlier-or, as she said wryly after her win, "just a couple of days.""
"The shock of Vonn's resurgence had not yet worn off when, two days later, the 44-year-old Rivers jogged-gingerly-onto the field as an emergency starter for the injury-thinned Indianapolis Colts. He is literally a grandpa, has an easy-chair double chin, and hadn't thrown a pro pass since his retirement, in 2021. The Colts' opponents, the Seattle Seahawks, were rated as 14-point favorites. A hand-lettered sign held up by a Seahawks fan read For Every Rivers Sack-AARP Gets a Donation."
Ageist expectations push athletes to retire before visible decline, depriving audiences of later-career achievements. Lindsey Vonn, at 41 with a partially replaced knee, won a World Cup downhill in St. Moritz at 70 miles per hour, becoming the oldest skier to win a World Cup race and ending a seven-year victory drought. Two days later, 44-year-old Philip Rivers entered as an emergency starter for the Indianapolis Colts, led a near-victory and threw a touchdown despite long retirement and mockery from fans. Both performances illustrate sustained competitiveness, resilience, and the possibility of late-career resurgences.
Read at The Atlantic
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