BEIJING, China — It's no secret that youth is favored at the Olympics.
Any athlete over 35 is essentially considered to be nearing the retirement age bracket. But bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor, who used to train in Arizona, is proving that youth isn't everything in competitive sports.
At 37, she's now the oldest American female athlete to win a medal at the Winter Olympics after claiming a silver medal in the first-ever monobob event on Sunday.
Meyers Taylor doesn't seem too phased by the attention she's now getting regarding her new record.
"Age is just a number," the Olympian wrote on Twitter after her victory.
It would seem the Olympics have accumulated an older demographic of competitors at this year's games in Beijing.
According to data collected by NPR, at least 140 athletes competing at the Olympics this year are over the age of 35 and a couple have already won gold medals.
American snowboarders Lindsey Jacobellis, 36, and Nick Baumgartner, 40, recently won gold in the mixed team snowboard cross event.
Meyers Taylor is certainly not the oldest athlete to compete at the Olympics.
That honor is currently held by Oscar Swahn, a Swedish shooter who won a silver medal in 1920 at the age of 72. Swahn notably competed alongside his 41-year-old son, Alfred, who also took home some medals that year.
At 49, German speed skater Claudia Pechstein became the oldest female athlete to ever compete at the Winter Olympics.
RELATED: Elana Meyers Taylor cleared to compete at Winter Olympics following second negative COVID test
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