List of oldest professional athletes by sport

The following is a list of sport's oldest professional athletes.

Sport	Name	Age played	Year retired
American football	Manfred Burgsmüller [1]	52 years, 182 days	2002
Association football	Dickie Borthwick (Sunday league and veterans team) [2]	83 years	2021 [a]
	Robert Carmona (Professional)	63 years, 108 days	Active
Australian rules football	Sampson Hosking (SANFL)	48 years, 159 days (interchange only)	1936
	Wally Watts (WAFL)	44 years, 49 days	1916
Auto racing (Rallying)	Sobiesław Zasada	91 years	2021 [3]
Baseball	Satchel Paige (one-off)	59 years, 350 days	1966
Basketball (Men's)	Pierluigi Marzorati [4]	54 years	2006
Basketball (Women's)	Nancy Lieberman [5]	50 years	2008
Bodybuilding	Albert Beckles [6]	53 years	1991
Bowling	Carmen Salvino [7]	86 years	2020
Boxing	Albert Hughes	70 years, 234 days	2019
Cricket (Tests)	Wilfred Rhodes	52 years	1930
Cricket (First-class)	Raja Maharaj Singh	72 years	1950
Cycling (Road)	Lex Nederlof	52 years	2018 [8]
Cycling (track)	Shoichi Yuasa	68 years	1996 [9]
Cycling (track) (women's)	Miyoko Takamatsu  [ ja ]	54 years, 11 months and 4 days	2017 [10]
Golf	Gary Player	73 years	2009
Gymnastics	Oksana Chusovitina	50 years, 58 days	Active
Ice hockey	Gordie Howe (one-off)	69 years, 276 days	1997
	Gordie Howe (at retirement)	52 years, 10 days	1980
	Jaromír Jágr [11]	53 years, 182 days	Active
International Darts	John Magowan	72 years	2013
Lacrosse	John Tavares	47 years	2015
Mixed Martial Arts	John Williams	70 years, 139 days	2010
Rugby league	Billy Wilson	40 years, 5 days	1967
Snooker	Fred Davis	79 years	1993
Sumo	Hanakaze Daisaku	51 years	2022
Surfing	Kelly Slater	53 years, 186 days	Active
Tennis (women's)	Leslie Rose [12]	53 years, 188 days [13]	Active
Tennis (men's)	Henry Young (Masters/Seniors) [14]	101 years, 324 days [15]	Active
	Toshihide Matsui (Professional) [16]	47 years, 119 days	Active
Track and Field	Stanisław Kowalski [17]	105 years, 75 days	2022[ citation needed ]
Volleyball	Miguel Maia	54 years, 115 days	Active

Notes

1. He announced his retirement in 2021 although he hadn't played any matches since 2019.

See also

• List of oldest Major League Baseball players
• List of oldest National Hockey League players
• List of oldest and youngest National Basketball Association players
• Sportsportal

References

1. Schlüter (May 23, 2019). "In memoriam: Manfred Burgsmüller". Football-Aktuell. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
2. Smith, Louie (December 9, 2021). "UK's oldest footballer retires after 79 years of 'proper footie at full pelt'". Daily Mirror. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
3. "Safari Rally Kenya Entry List".
4. "Los viejos la saben meter" (PDF). Marca.com. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
5. "Chron.com". July 24, 2008. Retrieved October 30, 2008.
6. "Bodybuilding Universe – Articles". Bodybuildinguniverse.com. Retrieved October 27, 2008.
7. "Carmen Salvino to Improve His "Oldest Pba Tour Competitor" Record". January 27, 2020.
8. "Lex Nederlof". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
9. "競輪に夢CHU Vol.9". 「Perfecta Navi（パーフェクタ・ナビ）」競輪・オートレース・自転車競技関連情報サイト (in Japanese). Retrieved February 22, 2023.
10. "日本競輪選手会ガールズケイリンサポートスタッフの高松美代子さんに聴くママチャリ乗りが50歳で競輪デビュー！そのミラクル・サイクル・ライフとは？". プレスリリース・ニュースリリース配信シェアNo.1｜PR TIMES. April 14, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
11. "Jaromir Jagr scores in first pro hockey game since turning 52". ESPN.com. April 18, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
12. "5 Oldest Active Tennis Players in 2025--Featuring Venus Williams". July 21, 2025.
13. "Leslie Cavanaugh-Rose".
14. Khan, Jo (June 14, 2025). "'Tennis repairs you': The 101-year-old fuelled by iced coffee who still plays competitively". The Guardian.
15. https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger/tennis-star-henry-young-has-turned-100-and-has-no-intention-of-slowing-down-soon/news-story/67ba0497f2dab7836d51f1ed67cd3bbe?amp=&nk=bf84502a595df96b859a7dd897f6bb7c-1755249390
16. "5 Oldest Active Tennis Players in 2025--Featuring Venus Williams". July 21, 2025.
17. "Masterstrack.com Historic marks: First M105 athlete is Poland's Stanislaw Kowalski - masterstrack.com". Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.