There is no sporting event like the Winter Olympics. While most avid sports fans show much enthusiasm for sports like football or baseball, the Winter Olympics showcases many sports the average viewer rarely gets to see.
The events in the winter Olympics are intense, to say the least, with individuals plummeting down mountains at high speeds or hurling themselves through the air. Apart from this, what has to be one of the most inspiring and impressive aspects of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea is the diversity in age amongst participants.
First, there are Olympians like Red Gerard or Chloe Kim. Both just seventeen years old, their young ages have not held them back in the competition. Gerard won a gold medal in the Men's Slopestyle Snowboarding event, while Kim also took gold in Women's Snowboard Halfpipe.
At an age where most kids are worried about what college they're going to attend, these teens just won one of the most coveted medals in sports, sure to be an application booster.
While there is a lot of younger talent on the Olympic team, older veterans are also pulling their weight. Shaun White, 31, miraculously shredded to victory in Men's Snowboarding Halfpipe, taking home his third gold medal in the event. Twelve years span between his first and most recent gold medal, showing that dedication and perseverance are no match for age.
Lindsey Vonn, 33, also showed that age is just a number during her performance in the Women's Downhill Skiing event. Vonn is the oldest women to win an alpine medal at the Olympic games, adding a bronze medal to her collection after winning both gold and bronze at the Vancouver 2010 games. After battling numerous severe injuries in the years since her gold medal win, Vonn's comeback is a testament to the passion she has for the sport.
It's exciting to see the younger talent on the Olympic team do well, but bittersweet to not know if some of our older favorites will return in four years. Either way, the 2018 Pyeongchang games have shown that age and ability have no correlation.
