Sports : life magnified

That is what John McEnroe said after he showed an extreme level of fitness to reach the semis of the ATP doubles tournament at San Jose with Jonas Bjorkman.

I first watched McEnroe live on TV at Wimbledon last year when he partnered Fleming (once again!) and featured in Nadal pants (or whatever they are called). I was amazed at the agility, placement and most importantly fitness McEnroe displayed.

Vijay Amritraj said then on TV that McEnroe took his fitness extremely seriously. He played regularly in the US and near his house. Watching McEnroe play is a privelege in itself and I understand, if only slightly, why sports from the past era have such reverence for the man because I have seen him play live.

And if you are wondering, McEnroe did scream at the umpire in his most recent match.

Update - McEnroe has won the doubles title as CNN reports.

Canadian Duff Gibson created history when he became the oldest individual gold medalist at the Winter Olympics at the age of 39 (Men’s skeleton title). He broke the record of Magnar Solberg who was 35 when he won his last gold. The oldest athlete to win it in a team event remains, as CNN reports:

The oldest Winter champion for any event is Jay O’Brien, who was 48 when he won four-man bobsleigh gold for the United States at the 1932 Games in Lake Placid.

At the summer games, Oscar Swahn was the part of the Running Deer shooting team at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics which won gold. . He was 64-years and 258-days old. Incidentally he is also the oldest olympian. As the official Olympic site reports:

After World War I, Swahn returned to the Olympics -at the age of 72. He won a silver medal in the running deer double-shot team event and also competed in the individual and team single-shot contests.