A 9-year-old skateboarder is entered at the Asian Games, a quadrennial multi-sports event with many Olympic sports and Olympic champions that starts this week in Indonesia.
So is an 81-year-old bridge player.
Skateboarder Aliqqa Novvery Kayyisa of Indonesia is currently younger than any competitor in Olympic history. The 4-foot-3-inch, 73-pound athlete was featured on the nation’s version of “Little Big Shots” last year, skating while wearing a tutu.
Skateboarding debuts at the Olympics at Tokyo 2020, when she will be younger than all but three Olympians, according to Olympic historians -- 1896 gymnast Dimitrios Loundras of Greece (10 years) and 1932 British figure skaters Cecilia Colledge and Megan Taylor (both 11).
Skateboarding does not have a published age minimum in its qualification rules for the 2020 Olympics. World Skateboard has not responded to a question on whether there is an Olympic age minimum in the sport.
Lee Hung Fong, an 81-year-old Malaysian, is also entered in the Asian Games. But she will definitely not be competing at an Olympics, as bridge is one of many sports held at the Asian Games that is not on the Olympic program. She is one of several Asian Games bridge players 70 years or older.
Esports are also debuting at the Asian Games as a demonstration event.
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