The Oldest Pros in Pro Sports
You’ve never heard of Fred Davis?!?! He’s the Satchel Paige of snooker!
Sumo: Hanakaze Daisaku
Daisaku competed until 2022, when he was 51 years old. His 33 years of competition and 214 tournaments are the longest and most, respectively, in the history of the sport.
Baseball: Satchel Paige
Paige is the oldest to start playing, signing his first contract on his 42nd birthday (after more than two decades in the Negro Leagues). At age 59, he was signed by the Kansas City Athletics for one game, which he spent sitting in a rocking chair in the bullpen, being served coffee. He took the mound long enough for the crowd to serenade him with a round of “The Old Gray Mare.”
Baseball (Again): Charley O’Leary
Paige didn’t actually throw a pitch that game, making O’Leary the oldest person to actively play the game. He came out of retirement for one game at age 58, and racked up a single and a run.
Soccer: Ezzeldin Mohamed Ali Bahader
The grandfather and civil engineer holds the Guinness World Record for oldest footballer, having taken penalty shots in a couple of games at the age of 74. He rounded up to 75 in media appearances, making it clear this was largely a PR stunt — ESPN says “keeping him on the team has allowed the club’s management to gain new sponsors and publicity.”
Soccer (Again): Robert Carmona
Carmona is a Uruguayan footballer who holds the record for longest soccer career (50 years). In fact, he’s still going strong at age 63.
Ice Hockey: Gordie Howe
Howe already held a record as the only guy to play in five decades, from the 1940s to the 1980s, and he tacked on another decade when he played a shift for the Detroit Vipers in 1997 at the age of 69.
Mixed Martial Arts: John Williams
Williams broke three records in one match in 2010: At the age of 70, he became the oldest MMA fighter to debut, the oldest active fighter and the oldest to win a match. Wikipedia wants you to know that he beat a 49-year-old bald used car salesman.
Boxing: Albert Hughes Jr.
Hughes began training to break this record with his son, who tragically passed away months before the match. He continued training on his own, and competed in his son’s honor at the age of 70 in 2019.
Cricket: Raja Maharaj Singh
Singh was the first governor of Bombay from 1948 to 1952. While in office, he captained a game for a cricket team called, notably, the Bombay Governor’s XI, making him the oldest player to play (and the oldest to debut) in a first-class game at the age of 72.
Golf: Gary Player
Player played pro golf from 1953 to 2009, and competed in the Masters 52 times (missing just one year due to surgery). He retired in 2009 at the age of 73.
Snooker: Fred Davis
Davis was active from 1929 to 1993, peaking at number four in the world. He retired at age 80 because of an arthritic knee.
Bowling: Carmen Salvino
Salvino has technically never retired, but his last competition (to date) was the 2020 PBA Tournament of Champions when he was a youthful 86 years old. While training, he commented, “I’ll admit I’m a little sore. That just means I’ve got more muscles than I realized.”
Rally Driving: Sobiesław Zasada
After retiring in 1979, Zasada made a comeback in 2021, competing in the Safari Rally. He didn’t finish due to a bunch of crashes, but he was the oldest to compete in the World Rally Championship at 91.
Track and Field: Stanisław Kowalski
Kowalski became the world’s oldest athlete when he competed in the 100-meter sprint, shot put and discus throw in 2015. He was 105 years old, necessitating a new 105-and-up division of World Masters Athletics.
