Rio Olympics: Older athletes still at the top

The lifespan for many sporting stars can be cruelly short - in few professional fields do people hitting 30 get described as "veteran". But across the Olympics, there is proof that age need not be a barrier to competing at the highest level.

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Anthony Ervin, 35, US, swimming

Sixteen years on from winning gold in the 50m freestyle at Sydney 2000, Anthony Ervin has reclaimed his title, becoming the Olympics' oldest swimming champion at 35.

His "swimmer's burnout" period in between saw him pursue a love of rock music, battle personal demons and even sell his first gold medal to charity.

But he started to train again in 2011, making the London Olympics in 2012, and already had a gold medal from the 4x100m freestyle event at Rio by the time he lined up on Friday night.

On his latest gold, he said: "I'm keeping it for now. Who knows what the future holds?''