Gladys Burrill was 86 when she ran her first marathon in 2004. She would go on to complete four more Honolulu Marathons, earning the nickname “Gladyator” and setting a world record for the oldest woman to finish a marathon on December 12, 2010 at age 92 with a time of nine hours, 53 minutes and 16 seconds.
In 2024, 55-year-old Amy Appelhans Gubser made headlines like “This Grandmother Swam 30 Miles Through Shark-Infested Waters to Set a Record.”
Sister Madonna Buder, also known as the “Iron Nun,” competed in her first triathlon in 1982 at age 52—and then did around 400 more over the next four decades.
The month after her 50th birthday, Australian athlete Melinda Cockshutt won the women’s division of the 2024 Ultraman Australia triathlon, as well as being the oldest woman to complete the race.
Hulda Crooks earned the nickname “Grandma Whitney” for climbing the continental U.S.’s tallest peak, Mount Whitney, 23 times between 1962 and 1991. She was 66 during her first ascent. She also climbed Japan’s Mount Fuji in 1987, becoming the oldest woman to scale it at age 91.
American skater, skateboarder and snowboarder
American bodybuilder
Nonagenarian Indian track and field athlete
Delores Brumfield (Dee) White began playing in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) as a young teenager in the post–World War II years, helping take the Fort Wayne Daisies to two league championships. She later taught physical education and was a coach at Henderson State University (HSU) in Arkadelphia (Clark County).
Georgia’s most devoted baseball fan and one of the most dedicated fans in the history of the sport