Events
The 22nd Winter Olympics are in full swing.
In this regard, it is not surprising that the most interesting news comes from Sochi, where hundreds of athletes from around the world take part in sports competitions every day.
Spectators are interested in everything about the competitors: height, weight, age.
So, who is the youngest athlete, and who has spent many years behind them, but despite their age, is ready to fight for medals?
Young athletes
The youngest athlete is ski jumper Gianina Ernst. The young German woman was born on December 31, 1998. At the time of the competition on February 10, she was only 15 years and 41 days old.
American skier Maggie Voisin is the same age as a German woman. She is only a few weeks older than Giana. Maggie's birthday is December 14, 1998, and she was 15 years 59 days old at the time of the show.
Sochi Olympics participants
The youngest male snowboarder is Japanese snowboarder Ayumu Hirano, who was born on October 28, 1998. At the time of his participation in the competition on February 11, he was 15 years and 106 days old.
The young Japanese is followed by Austrian freestyler Marco Ladner. His birthday is April 22, 1998. Marco made his Olympic debut 15 years and 295 days.
However, despite their youth, the Sochi Olympics participants are far from the record set in 1932.
Young figure skater
The youngest athlete in Olympic history was Cecilia College, a British figure skater who was 11 years and 72 days old at the time of her performance.
Read also: The most beautiful and charming athletes of the Sochi Olympics
Cecilia competed in singles at the Lake Placid Olympics in 1932.
Jan Hoffmann, an East German figure skater, became the youngest athlete in Olympic history. At the time of his performance in Grenoble in 1968, the boy was only 12 years and 111 days old.
Figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya
Of course, the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about young figure skaters in Sochi is the name of the Russian athlete, the charming Yulia Lipnitskaya.
Yulia became not only one of the youngest participants in the Sochi Olympics, but also the first youngest Olympic champion in singles in history. At the time of winning the gold medal, Lipnitskaya was 15 years and 249 days old.
Hubertus von Hohenlohe, a Mexican slalomist, is the oldest participant in the 22nd Winter Olympics. His biography is very interesting.
Read also: Olympic uniforms from different countries in Sochi 2014
At 55, Hubertus doesn't just ski. He is a professional photographer and rock singer.
The Mexican is second only to Carl August Kronlund of Sweden. He is the one who holds the Olympic age record. The Scandinavian athlete who competed in the winter competition in Chamonix in 1924 was 58 years old.
It should be added that von Hohenlohe broke his own record four years ago. Already at the Vancouver Olympics, the slalomist became one of the oldest participants in the competition. He was 51 years old at the time.
Next in age is German curler John Jahr. Born in April 1965, he took part in the Sochi Olympics at the age of almost 49.
Angelica Morrone di Silvestri is the oldest athlete. An Italian-American woman celebrated her 48th birthday on November 25.
At the time of her 10 km race, she was 48 years and 81 days old. Thus, Angelika became the oldest athlete in Sochi, breaking the age record of Norwegian skier Hilde Pedersen, who was 41 years old at the time of the Turin Olympics.
It should be added that Angelica's husband, who is also one of the oldest participants, is also participating in Sochi. At the beginning of February, Gary di Silvestri turned 47 years old.
The Olympic Games are not only a fight for medals between athletes from different countries, but, above all, a place where experience and youth intersect. And only time will tell who will win such a stubborn struggle for leadership.