A 52-year-old Olympian? Austria's Claudia Riegler turns back the clock on her snowboard

LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — When Claudia Riegler started speaking about her snowboarding rivals at the Winter Olympics, she had a verbal slip that confirmed an obvious truth.

“I never think about age,” she said. “If I’m racing, I even don’t know how old the girls are.”

Then, she did a quick, embarrassed double-take.

“The girls!" she said. "Now, it sounds really like I am older!”

Riegler isn't one of the girls. In fact, she could be their mother, or even grandmother. But how many of them will be able to say they are a proud Olympian at 52 years old?

This Austrian über veteran competed in her fifth Winter Games on Sunday when she raced in the parallel giant slalom in the sunbaked Italian Alps.

That in itself is some achievement, especially given the talent that snow-crazed Austria churns out.

Yet she wasn’t just here to pick up another participation certificate. Riegler showed she still could carve through the gates with the best in the world. She dug in and made the cut for the elimination rounds, right on the cusp, finishing No. 16 from the qualifying field of 36 riders.

That paired her with two-time defending gold medalist Ester Ledecka, 22 years her youth.

Nobody expected Riegler to pull off an upset against Ledecka. That fell to fellow Austrian Sabine Mayer, who stunned Ledecka in the quarterfinals on her way to winning the silver. But if you are going to go out, it might as well be to the sport’s GOAT.

Riegler finished 1.13 seconds behind Ledecka, a considerable gap but not one that caused any shame.

Only when Riegler, her day done, took off her ski helmet emblazoned with a fierce white wolf could you see the gulf in years that separated her from her rivals, which included one 16-year-old.

“I’m really proud that I’m here today and that I had a really good run against Ester,” she said. “I’m happy that I made it to the finals today and I even made a really good final run.”

Riegler made her Olympic debut at Salt Lake City in 2002, one year before the new gold medalist, Czech rider Zuzana Maderova, was born.

Not many months after the Olympic debut, when she was 29, her Austrian team coach said she was over the hill and dropped Riegler from the team.

Yet what could've been the end turned out to be the fuel that has kept her going for two more decades.

“I have to say my biggest motivation now is my age because I was kicked out of the team when I was 30 and they told me I’m too old,” Riegler said. “So at that moment I said to myself, no, it was not over. I will continue by myself. And if he’s saying this, it doesn’t have to be the truth. I have to find my own truth. That’s the thing which is motivating me a lot.”

So she kept training and eventually, after three years and a coaching change, she was back riding in Austria’s red-and-white.

She went on to win the parallel giant slalom world championship in 2015, while adding up over 400 World Cup starts.

Now she is going home satisfied that she didn't show her age in Livigno.

An alternate for the American curling team, Rich Ruohonen, is 54 at these Games. (He has yet to compete.)

But an action sport such as Parallel giant slalom (PGS), where snowboarders zigzag through gates over a short course to see which reaches the bottom first, seems to befit older athletes.

The men’s gold medalist Sunday was 40-year-old Ben Karl, another Austrian, who successfully defended his title won in 2022.

To celebrate he tore off his shirt and flexed his muscles, showing no signs of a “dad bod” even though he's middle aged.

“You saw me with my naked body and I think you can be super good in shape until 40 and maybe until 50, I don’t know," he said. "There is no reason to slow down with my age.”

More evidence for PGS being an elixir of athletic youth: Men’s silver medalist Kim Sangkyum is 37, while another top male rider in Sunday’s lineup was the 45-year-old Roland Fischnaller.

It must be something in the snow.

Or, as Ledecka’s coach, ex-snowboarder racer Justin Reiter, pointed out, racers don’t suffer the same injuries and overall wear and tear that the halfpipe daredevils do when attempting their aerial stunts.

“When you get a little bit older and the knees get a bit creaky, you tend not to ride rails that are in the park or do jumps,” Reiter said. “You tend to ride on your edges and carve and turn. And so you have this return to the roots of snowboarding.”

For Riegler, it's about cycling and weight training, and a good dose of belief. That said, she is eyeing after next year's world championships in her home country as the moment to lay down the board for good.

“I think would be a really nice ending for me,” she said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Czechia's Ester Ledecka, left, and Austria's Claudia Riegler compete during the women's snowboarding parallel giant slalom finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Austria's Claudia Riegler, left, and Czechia's Ester Ledecka compete during the women's snowboarding parallel giant slalom finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Austria's Benjamin Karl celebrates winning the gold medal in the men's snowboarding parallel giant slalom finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

A wolf is displayed on the helmet of Austria's Claudia Riegler as she waits to compete during the women's snowboarding parallel giant slalom qualifications at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — A gold medal at the Milan Cortina Olympics weighs 506 grams, or just over 1.1 pounds. It's a fairly heavy necklace.

Sorry, Max Langenhan. The additional neck pain might be worth it.

Langenhan — a two-time defending World Cup overall champion from Germany who feared that he would have to withdraw from the men's singles competition in Cortina because of serious neck pain — became his country's latest Olympic luge champion on Sunday night by holding off Austria's Jonas Mueller and Italy's Dominik Fischnaller for the first of the 12 sliding gold medals to be awarded in these games.

“This thing’s really heavy, and I still have neck pain," Langenhan said. "And I think I’m getting more neck pain with having this on my neck.”

He finished four runs over two days in 3 minutes, 31.191 seconds. Mueller was second in 3:31.787 and Fischnaller got his second consecutive Olympic men's singles bronze medal by finishing in 3:32:125.

Langenhan posted the fourth-biggest winning margin in Olympic men's singles luge history.

USA Luge was paced by Jonny Gustafson, who finished 11th, while Olympic rookie Matthew Greiner was 20th for the Americans.

Among other notables: two-time Olympic gold medalist and current World Cup leader Felix Loch of Germany was sixth and Austria's Wolfgang Kindl — the only luge athlete in these Olympics competing in both singles and doubles — was eighth.

There's something fitting about Germany, Austria and Italy ending up on the medal stand. They're the only nations to ever win gold in men's singles at the Olympics — with Germany far, far, far ahead of the rest of that pack.

Germany — by various names — now has 12 of the 17 Olympic men's singles all-time luge gold medals. Italy has three, Austria the other two. That's it, even with all other nations spending more than a half-century chasing those three European sliding juggernauts.

Langenhan is the ninth German man to win the singles Olympic gold, and he beat serious contenders for this title. Mueller won the test event at Cortina's rebuilt Eugenio Monti track in November, while Fischnaller — the husband of longtime USA Luge women's star Emily Fischnaller, formerly Emily Sweeney — had the edge of being at home and was trying to match Armin Zoeggeler's feat from Turin 2006 and claim gold on Italian ice.

Dominik Fischnaller was mobbed by Italian sliders, all in white puffy coats, as he crossed the finish line. There was one blue coat jumping around in that mass hug as well; that would be his wife, who was wearing her U.S. colors for the occasion.

“It's so important for us, that we start this with a medal,” Dominik Fischnaller said.

The women's singles event starts Monday and finishes Tuesday. The men's doubles event is Wednesday, as is the women's doubles race — which is making its Olympic debut. And on Thursday, the team relay concludes the luge slate at these Olympics.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Italy's Dominik Fischnaller, center, celebrates winning the bronze medal as he arrives at the finish during a men's single luge run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

From left, second placed Austria's Jonas Mueller, first placed Germany's Max Langenhan and third placed Italy's Dominik Fischnaller pose with their medals after the men's single luge competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Third placed Italy's Dominik Fischnaller pose with his medal after the men's single luge competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

From left, second placed Austria's Jonas Mueller, first placed Germany's Max Langenhan and third placed Italy's Dominik Fischnaller pose with their medals after the men's single luge competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Germany's Max Langenhan reacts after winning the gold medal as he arrives at the finish during a men's single luge run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Austria's Jonas Mueller slides down the track during a men's single luge run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Italy's Dominik Fischnaller slides down the track during a men's single luge run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Germany's Max Langenhan waves as he arrives at the finish during a men's single luge run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A person holds a giant portrait of Germany's Max Langenhan in the finish area during a men's single luge run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)