Top 10 veteran champions

1 Cadel Evans
"Better late than never", "20 years of hard work" and "finally, everything went right" were some of the quotes from the 34-year-old as he became the oldest winner of the Tour de France in 88 years.

Cadel Evans had ridden Le Tour seven times since 2005, finishing 8th, 4th, 2nd, 2nd, 30th and 26th, the latter two results incorporating crashes and injuries. Then came last Saturday's time trial. It was the difference between seizing glory or again slipping to also-ran status. Evans chose the former, producing a performance that shredded Andy Schleck's 57s lead and turned it into his own 1m 34s advantage, before heading into Paris in the largely ceremonial final stage.

Evans faced adversity and survived like he had done before in his life. He was born three weeks past his due date with a broken nose and, at age eight, his skull was fractured when a horse kicked him. He spent weeks in a coma. Doctors did not expect him to walk again yet he was capable of winning cycling's most prestigious race.
- Andrew Alderson

2 Mark Todd
Mark Todd's riding skills and composure are legendary. Observers have said he's capable of "making a donkey jump 10 feet" or "winning Badminton on a skateboard" but this April he surpassed the most ambitious pundit estimates winning Badminton a fourth time.

At 55, he was the oldest winner in the event's 62-year history. In May, Todd underlined his self-assurance to the Herald on Sunday:"Going into the final show jumping round at Badminton, I had everything to lose if I'd dropped rails but when you believe in the horse and yourself - and I've been in those situations many times - I know how to cope with the nerves and the doubts."

As a double Olympic champion and the International Equestrian Federation's "rider of the 20th century", it should come as no surprise if he medals next year at London. Olympic three-day eventing winners since a 28-year-old Todd won at Los Angeles in 1984 have ranged in age from 28 to 45. Todd has plenty left to prove.
- Andrew Alderson

3 Sir Steven Redgrave
Watching Redgrave and his coxless four chums haul through 2000m of agony at the Sydney Olympics is inspirational sport, perhaps summed up best by BBC radio commentator Alan Green who midway through the race barked at listeners, "I don't care what you're doing, stop it!" as an illustrious finish beckoned.

The Italians got within a quarter length on the line but sheer will took Redgrave across for a fifth consecutive gold medal; a mark only matched by three other Olympians (two in fencing and one in equestrian).

The sight of long time crewmate, Matthew Pinsent leaping Tim Foster to give Redgrave a bear hug before flopping into the water said it all. To do it, Redgrave triumphed over diabetes. The then 38-year-old had been taking insulin since 1997.

David Wallechinsky's "The complete book of the Olympics" highlights another curious fact. The crew had finished fourth at the Lucerne meet three months before the Games, the first time Redgrave had finished outside the top three at an international event in 11 years. But cometh the hour...
- Andrew Alderson

4 Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge
Michael Colin Cowdrey (known as Colin but christened with those initials by a cricket-mad father) exhibited bravery lining up 11 days shy of his 42nd birthday against Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson in their belligerent pomp during the 1974-75 Ashes tour of Australia. To make matters worse it was at Perth, the fastest pitch in the country.

Cowdrey was asked if he would consider helping out after a three and a half year test absence. Memorably, his now more rotund figure ambled to the middle where, in true MCC spirit, he introduced himself to the fiery Thomson: "I don't believe we've met. My name's Cowdrey".

Thomson then marked out the long run and tried to knock his cap off. Cowdrey earned plaudits with 22 at first drop and 41 opening in the second innings. Hewas considered the English batsman with the most time to play his shots during the series, his best being a classical cover drive.

That stemmed from an upbringing in India where his father worked as a tea planter. The estate servants spent plenty of time bowling to young Colin who had to exchange bat for ball if found guilty of a cross-batted stroke.

That sense for cricketing tradition never left him. He was the first player to play 100 tests, became the first President of the International Cricket Council in 1989 and British Prime Minister John Major made him a life peer in 1997 for services to the game.
Cowdrey died in 2000.
- Andrew Alderson

5 Linford Christie
Sprinting is a young man's game. Typically it is men in their early to mid 20s who line across the track in the big 100m championship finals. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Britain's Linford Christie was an oddity. Starting in lane five the 32-year old was five years older than Raymond Stewart, the next oldest man in the field. Christie was 12 years older than Davidson Ezinwa in lane seven. Yet after 30 metres it was Christie who was bursting to the front and after 50 metres, when he was a nose in front of the field, he pulled away.

A hugely powerful man, his explosive upright frame gave no hint of feeling its age. The younger men - 25- year-old Leroy Burrell who was the world record holder at that time and 26-year-old Dennis Mitchell - were blown away by the old man. At 32 Christie became the oldest winner of the Olympic 100m and a year later he also won the world championship in Stuttgart in 9.86 seconds. Amazingly, he actually qualified for the final of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics but was disqualified after two false starts. Still, to even have been there at 36 was remarkable.
- Gregor Paul

6 Allan Langer
He was the virtuso veteran who proved, in the deciding Origin match in 2001, that sporting fairy tales can come true. It seemed inconcievable at the time - the 35-year-old Allan Langer had left the NRL in 1999 to play in the English Super League, before Wayne Bennett persuaded him to return. It was a clandestine operation, with reports at the time suggesting the 165cm "Alfie" even boarded the plane to Australia under a false name.

Bennett backed his man but was also desperate - a year earlier the Maroons had suffered their worst ever defeat (56-16) in game three and he had lost skipper Gordon Tallis for the decider. Critics were unconvinced; Phil Gould wondered about the lack of depth north of the border, if they had to "bring back 35-year-olds to win".

The Little General made a nervous start to the most anticipated Origin clash ever, before setting up two early tries. He scored himself in the second half and Queensland romped to a 40-14 win and a cherished series victory.

The headline in Sydney's Daily Telegraph simply read "Bloody Alf". The success prompted Langer to restart his NRL career with the Broncos and he also played another year for Queensland, taking man of the match in the third game before retiring with 34 Origin caps and 10 tries to his name.
- Michael Burgess

7 Dino Zoff
To those looking from the outside in, it seemed that Italy were somewhat desperate when they reached the 1982 World Cup. Not only had they made their goal-keeper captain - an unusual position from which to lead the team - but it was a goal-keeper who was 40 years old.

Dino Zoff was hardly cat-like in terms of agility and was surely going to be a liability, even if he was keeping behind a typically belligerent and organised Italian back four?

Well, as it turned out Zoff was still sprightly enough to make some key saves, but more than that, he provided outstanding leadership and guidance. Italy came through the pool round to land in the worst possible place - a playoff group that included Brazil and Argentina.

Inspired by Zoff, the Italians beat them both - the match against Brazil possibly Zoff's finest 90 minutes. An easy win against Poland in the semi was followed by the result the world wanted to see; a 3-1 win in the final against West Germany and Zoff to this day remains the oldest man to ever win the World Cup.
- Gregor Paul

8 Jack Nicklaus
Of all the names bandied about as possible winners of the 1986 US Masters, Jack Nicklaus was not among them. The 'Golden Bear' remained the greatest golfer the world had ever seen, but at 46 his best days were long gone. He was no longer capable of winning a major reckoned the experts and, to be fair, the evidence supported that.

The winner of 17 previous majors, Nicklaus hadn't featured in the running for some time. His last win at the Masters had been in 1975andhis last major win had been in 1980. Tom McCollister, writing in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, said that Nicklaus was"done, washed up, through".

Something happened in the spring of 1986, though, as Nicklaus turned back the clock. He wasn't properly in the running until the final nine of the final day. Then he played the closing half of the Augusta National in just 30 for a final round of 65.

It was an incredible spurt of magical golf where he sunk every putt and hit the ball like he had it on a string. He was seven under for the final 10 holes. He went eagle-birdie-birdie-par over the last four holes to see off the challenge of Greg Norman and Tom Kite and become the oldest winner of the Masters.
- Gregor Paul

9 Martina Navratilova
For Martina Navratilova, age has truly been no barrier. A player who was always ahead of her time - one of the first women to develop her net game - the naturalised American also defied Father Time. She won the 2003 Wimbledon mixed doubles crown at the age of 46, becoming the oldest champion ever at SW19.

Three years later at the US Open she upped the ante, taking out the mixed doubles title alongside Bob Bryan at a time when she was just a month shy of blowing out 50 candles. Navratilova, who many critics have called the greatest player of all time, retired from singles in 1994 (aged 38) but continued to make occassional appearances in various tournaments.

Perhaps most impressive of all, she claimed the honour of being the oldest player to win a professional singles match in the Open Era (since 1968) when she won a first round match at the Wimbledon in 2004 at the age of 47 years and eight months.

All in all, she accumulated 59 Grand Slam titles (18 Singles, 31 Doubles and 10 Mixed Doubles).
- Michael Burgess

10 Dara Torres
Successful swimmers over 30 are about as common as Italian war heroes. American iron woman Dara Torres spectacularly disproved that theory. She had broken her first world record back in 1982, and won her first Olympic gold medal two years later in Los Angeles, a year before Michael Phelps was born.

As a 33-year-old, she was the oldest swimmer on the US team in Sydney and took home five medals, including two golds. She promptly retired, but eight years later declared her intention to compete at the 2008 Olympics at 41.

Torres duly qualified for Beijing, becoming the oldest female swimmer in the history of the Games. She took home three silver medals, including the 50m freestyle and is one of just a clutch of Olympians who can claim medals at five different Games (1984, 1988, 1992, 2000 and 2008.)

She was said to be retired "once and for all" after her successful Chinese banquet. However Torres is now gunning for the London Olympic Games next year, and has qualified for the US swim trials to be held in June 2012.
- Michael Burgess