Oldest competitor at a Winter Olympic Games (female)

The oldest competitor at the Winter Olympic Games (female) is Claudia Pechstein (Germany, b. 22 February 1972), who appeared in the speed skating women’s mass start aged 49 years 362 days at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China, on 19 February 2022.

Pechstein appeared at her eighth Winter Olympics in 2022, equalling the record of ski-jumper Noriaki Kasai. She participated in the women’s 3,000 m, where she finished 20th out of 20 competitors during qualification, and the women’s mass start, where she finished ninth. Pechstein won nine medals (including five golds) over her 30-year Olympic career, which began in Albertville 1992. She missed the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver owing to a two-year ban imposed by the International Skating Union for abnormal blood levels, which they said indicated doping.

Cheryl Bernard was listed as an alternate for the Canadian women’s curling team at Pyeongchang 2018 at the age of 51, but she did not compete.