The Paper's reporter Chen Jun
Recently, a report in the New York Times has attracted attention from all sides.
Athletes have overcome the idea of starting to consider retirement at the age of 30, an age that is no longer an obstacle to continuing their careers.
And many players over the age of 30 are proving that sport is not only suitable for young people, but that their careers can last longer as nutrition and recovery technology advances.
Cristiano Ronaldo will also play in the World Cup as an absolute core.
They all maintain a high level
The New York Times cited data from sports consultancy Tenwenty First Group, which shows players over the age of 32 play longer in the Champions League every year.
And last season, players over the age of 34 accumulated more playing time in Europe's five major leagues than in any other season.
Coincidentally, a january statistic illustrates the point – 11 players over the age of 36 in Europe's five major leagues contributed more than 1,000 minutes of playing time, when the league was just over halfway through.
The 38-year-old Fonte has played 29 games for Lille and played 2610 minutes; Villarreal centre-back Albiol, 36, played 25 games for a total of 2,145 minutes; Thiago 1 Silva, 37, played 24 games and played 1852 minutes...
As the main player of Manchester United, C Ronaldo is the representative of the elderly players who maintain a high playing rate, but he is only sixth on this list, playing 21 times and playing 1730 minutes.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to the increasing playing time of older players, their competitive level has also maintained a high level.
Twenty First Group's ranking of the world's 150 best players is twice as high as in the past decade. It seems that 30 years old is no longer a hurdle in a player's career, and contemporary players will not have a sharp decline in competitive status because they reach the age of 30.
It's easy to find concrete examples, such as Modric, 36, and Benzema, 34, who helped Real Madrid win La Liga and the Champions League, and the latter is likely to win this year's Ballon d'Or.
Cristiano Ronaldo also proved that he still scored at the age of 37, Lewandowski, 34, could still leverage tens of millions of transfers, and the 40-year-old Ibrahimovic and Joaquin also won new contract extensions for the club.
Real Madrid's "second oldest man" Modric (left) and Benzema.
The athletic career of the male athletes was extended by 7 years
Similarly, even in the Chinese national team, a similar trend is showing.
In July last year, former international Fan Zhiyi said in a program, "Now 30 years old is the best age, in the whole football sport, the retirement age of players is postponed, and the average age of the national football team is 30.3 years old, which is now the year of playing." ”
Why are there more and more older players and still have dominance? Tony Strudwick, dean of Arsenal's School of Sport Science and Medicine and one of England's coaches, believes this generation of players over 30 may be the first to be truly exposed to sports science from the beginning of their careers, and their current performance is the result of improvements in physical preparation, medicine and nutrition.
More than a week ago, the 35-year-old Djokovic achieved four consecutive Wimbledon titles, increasing his personal Grand Slam trophy to 21st, and Nadal, who is a year older than him, won the Australian Open and French Open in the first half of the year.
Su Bingtian is the representative of China's veterans.
This phenomenon of getting old and strong has actually spread to various sports, not only equestrian and golf, which do not seem to be strenuous sports, but also the most confrontational, explosive and coordinated sports in the sports circles such as American football, basketball, boxing, sprinting, gymnastics, and skiing.
A survey of 344 of Switzerland's top athletes by the Institute of Sport Sciences at the University of Bern in Switzerland also found that in the 24 years from 1988 to 2012, the athletic careers of male athletes were extended by 7 years and 1 month, and those of women by 4 years.
Sports psychologist Garberman believes that the existence of the "sports evergreen" stems from the fact that they rarely have serious injuries in their careers, and a series of sports sciences such as contemporary sports medicine, training, rehabilitation, nutrition and even psychology are helping elderly athletes to prolong their careers.
James is 37 years old and still has outstanding physical fitness.
Those amazing tech products
If healthy eating and regular work and rest can be thought of by everyone, then some high-tech products will subvert many people's cognition.
Located on the outskirts of Boston, USA, Norma Tec plays an important role in modern sports science, and was founded to help patients with poor blood circulation maximize blood flow, but with the advancement of technology, NormaTec began to become a favorite of professional athletes.
Control air pressure through pulses, promote blood circulation, reduce blood lactate levels, relieve muscle swelling and soreness, this is the principle of NormaTec fist product pneumatic compression pants, which can help athletes recover from sports fatigue as soon as possible, and the traditional means of recovery in the past have long stayed on artificial massage and ice bath.
Because of LeBron James' appearance, Norma Tec's products are now in the locker rooms of every team in the NBA. The technology is also being used in football, with former Chelsea superstar Terry being a loyal user.
Technology not only helps athletes recover quickly and stay in shape, but also makes the hardware on them more durable.
As early as 2018, multinational company Zimmer joined forces with universities around the world to develop a new material that can improve the quality and durability of articular cartilage implants. The material is used in large areas for knee surgery, and according to tests, with this new material, the life of implants can be 80% longer than implants used in the past.
It is well known that wear and tear on cartilage can affect the professional lifespan of athletes, especially those who need to perform high-speed impact sports.
Djokovic has just won the Wimbledon title.
Stem cell therapy conquers Tyson
All of this sounds mysterious enough, and in the past 10 years, stem cell technology as a product of sports medicine has been regarded as a panacea by more and more athletes.
Last year, the 53-year-old legend Tyson returned to the ring after 15 years of retirement to play an 8-round exhibition match, and he was shocked by his performance: "Do you know what I did? I received stem cell therapy, and what scientists can do is really amazing. ”
It is reported that a large number of sports superstars, including Messi, C Ronaldo, NBA stars Kemba Walker and Gasol, tennis star Nadal and even the comatose former F1 champion Schumacher, have received stem cell treatment.
Stem cells are a kind of multi-potential cells with self-replication ability, in vivo or in vitro specific induction conditions, can be differentiated into bone, cartilage, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and other tissue cells, known as "universal cells" by the medical community, through the injection of stem cells, can eliminate inflammation, delay the aging of the body, and even help repair and regenerate some damaged body tissues and nervous system.
In 2016, Cristiano Ronaldo's muscle fiber tears were treated with stem cells, and it took only three weeks to resume training.
Nadal is still the king of the undead.
The best athlete? 35 or 40 years old
Knowing all this, do you still feel incredible that older athletes still maintain strong physical functions? And these are just the tip of the iceberg of modern sports science.
It's clear that the mysterious science of sports is making the arena different from the past, and as more and more older players benefit from it, we have to admit that it is no longer so scientific to measure whether athletes are still at their peak by the standards of the past.
"We live in very interesting times. We saw Tom Brady (45-year-old rugby superstar) and Serena Williams (41-year-old women's tennis player) and we marveled at how amazing they were at doing things. ”
《Inc. Jeff Bercovici, a reporter for the magazine, has been following the athletic performance of older athletes for years, and he has come to conclusions by interviewing hundreds of athletes, coaches and sports science experts.
"In a way, it makes sense that older athletes are better. The benefits of experience and maturity are so great that if you can subtract physiological decline from the strength equation, or ensure that this decline comes later than in the past, the best athletes will be at age 35 or 40. ”
"I think this phenomenon will be more common in the future, and we will have more world champions who are 35 or even 40 years old."
Editor-in-Charge: Ascendas
Proofreader: Zhang Liangliang