I believe Merlene Ottey was 40 when she placed 4th in the Finals of the 100m dash in Sydney and 2nd in the 4x100m.
-Jeff -----Original Message----- From: Wilmar Kortleever [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 17:12 To: International track and field mailing list; Statistics track and field mailing list; Masters track and field mailing list Subject: t-and-f: best 40 year old in major championships? Hello all, Hopefully, somebody of the statisticians can answer one of the following questions: - has a 40+ year old ever made it to a (sprint) final in one of the major championships (worlds or olympics) - individually or as a member of the relay team? - and if not: what is the furthest a 40+ year old (sprinter) ever got in these championships? There is of course a background to these questions: soon-to-be-40 year old Troy Douglas (30/11/'62) has announced he will continue in the individual 200 meters for one more year (until Paris 2003). He then plans to retire from the individual events, but wants to participate in the Dutch relay team in their effort to qualify for the olympics in Athens (at what time he will be 41). Only last year, at 38, Douglas (a former Bermudan) broke the Dutch records for both the 100 and 200 meters: 10.19 and 20.19. This year, he made it to the European championship finals (4th in '98), but (mostly due to minor injuries) he did not run as fast (although he was still good for 10.28 and 20.56, pretty impressive times for a 39-year old who has competed in three olympics >before< Sydney 2000). Regards, Wilmar Kortleever
