Oldest gold medallist at a Winter Olympic Games

The oldest gold medallist at a Winter Olympic Games is Robin Welsh (UK, b. 20 October 1869), who was part of Great Britain’s victorious curling team aged 54 years 102 days at the 1924 Winter Olympics on 30 January 1924 in Chamonix, France.

The International Olympic Committee ruled in February 2006 that the 1924 curling event had been part of the official programme, not a demonstration event, as had been widely believed before. (Curling would not become an official Winter Olympic medal event again until Nagano 1998.) Only three teams participated in the 1924 event – Sweden, Great Britain and France. The all-Scottish team of Great Britain dominated both of their games, winning 38–7 and 46–4, to seal gold. Welsh was a talented all-round sportsman who played international rugby and also represented Scotland at tennis.