Ski jumping veteran Kasai (51) back at the World Cup: these athletes are “oldies but goldies”

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The year is 1988. In Sapporo (Japan), a 16-year-old ski jumper sails over the vaulting table at the World Cup for the first time in his life. His name: Noriaki Kasai.

On Friday, more than 36 years later, the same Noriaki Kasai will jump again from the World Cup ski jump in Sapporo. He is now 51 years old. His strong placings in the Continental Cup, the second highest level of ski jumping, made the Japanese oldie eligible to compete in the home World Cup. Kasai isn’t the only sports dino who continues to deliver great performances. An overview.

While others this age have long since retired from football or coaching, Japanese Kazuyoshi Miura is still on the field. The soon to be 57-year-old is storming for UD Oliveirense in the second highest Portuguese league. The loan contract for ‘King Kazu’, as his fans call him, runs until the end of the current season. However, Miura’s signing brings the club more attention than sporting success. In the current season, the Japanese played only eight minutes in five appearances.

He is a real oldie and still made the top ten on the legendary Lauberhorn run in Wengen BE. At 39 years old, Frenchman Adrien Theaux is currently the oldest professional ski racer. He is closely followed by the almost three months younger Italian Christof Innerhofer. Although both have experienced violent falls and serious injuries in recent years, neither wants anything to do with retirement.

No one spends as long in the cockpit as Fernando Alonso. The 42-year-old Spaniard finished fourth at the World Cup last season in an Aston Martin. And even after 21 seasons, Alonso still hasn’t had enough of the Formula 1 circus. In the summer he wants to think about his career future – and is also considering changing racing teams again.

In the NHL, Jaromir Jagr (52) earned legendary status over 24 seasons, 1,733 games and 766 goals. However, when he stopped performing as required in the 2018 season and his club, the Calgary Flames, cut him from the squad, he was no longer able to find a job in North America. Jagr returned to his native Czech Republic and became the owner of his hometown club Kladno Knights. For which he is also on the ice as a certified player.

Point to Switzerland! No player in the top 100 of the ATP rankings is older than Stan Wawrinka. Although tennis professionals are playing at a high level for longer and longer, ‘Stan the Man’ is 38 years old, well above the average age of the players in the top 100. He hardly thinks about retiring. He told Blick in the summer: “I want to push the machine to its limits.”

Source : Blick