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We’ve entered a golden age for graying athletes. Tom Brady, for example, just won his seventh Super Bowl. He’s 43. In May, Phil Mickelson, 50, became the oldest golfer to ever win a major championship.
So does America’s oldest Olympian at the Tokyo Games, 57-year-old equestrian rider Phillip Dutton, feel extra pressure to match the age-defying performances that have recently been sweeping sports?
Dutton laughs at the question. “Um, yeah,” says Dutton. “I’ll be doing my best to deliver.”
The Australian-born Dutton is making his seventh Olympic appearance. He competes in eventing, a sort of equestrian triathlon that combines the disciplines dressage, cross country and show jumping. He won team eventing gold medals for Australia in 1996 and 2000. But after moving to the United States in the 1990s to compete on the American circuit—and settling there after meeting his wife, Evie—he switched to Team USA before the Beijing Games. In Rio 2016, he won individual eventing bronze to become the oldest U.S. medalist since 1952.
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His hope for Tokyo gold rests on a 13-year-old horse named Z. Dutton rode Z at the 2018 world championships, and believes he’s much more seasoned now. “He’s kind of a workaholic,” says Dutton. “You can sit on him all day and he’ll still be wanting to do it. He’s a beautiful jumper and very bold and honest and trusting, which is nice.”
Dutton, who says he often gets ribbed about his age in equestrian circles, credits his own longevity to staying steady. “The number one thing is your balance,” says Dutton. “You’re going at a galloping speed, 20-something miles an hour on a 1,000-lb animal that can turn on a dime or stomp or twist or deviate from the course. You have to stay on the middle of that horse at all times.”
He does balancing drills, like standing on one leg. But most of his work comes in the saddle. He’ll often ride six to seven different horses a day in training. “If I get on a horse, and it’s only been ridden on once or twice before in its life, that tests your balance out,” Dutton. “Because a lot of the time they’re just jumping around.”
He does consider balance a physical gift. “To be fair, I was born with pretty good natural balance,” he says. “So I haven’t had to work too hard at it. I think that’s probably one of the biggest things that starts to deteriorate as you get older.”
Dutton, who’s listed at 5’6″ and 150 pounds, has also maintained his power. “The strength part of it is you don’t move,” says Dutton. “It’s like you’re carrying somebody on your back and they’re moving around all the time. So there’s strength involved in that. It’s not so much weightlifting strength but a core strength.”
That’s a good thing, as Dutton’s no fan of the bench press. “I don’t go to the gym at all,” says Dutton. “I grew up in Australia on a sheep and cattle farm and that was kind of a bit foreign to me. I would rather sort of walk up and down stairs or not park that close to the restaurant or whatever. When I’m not riding I play tennis or do other things to keep active rather than be on a regimented fitness schedule.”
Equestrians can remain in the saddle well past middle age; the oldest female Olympian ever was Lorna Johnstone, a British rider who turned 70 just a few days before competing at the 1972 Olympics. Dutton says there’s no mystery why. “The horse is the athlete,” he says. “There’s no question about that. Our job is basically to get the horse to shine.”
If he and Z thrive in Tokyo, Dutton would love to see his horse earn an actual medal. But only the riders collect the hardware. Winning horses, says Dutton, are rewarded with a lifetime of perks. “They get fed really well,” he says. “They’re going to live like kings for the rest of their lives.”
While the equestrian horses do much of the hard work at the Games, an athlete like Dutton—who’s put in hours of practice for decades—is still worthy of respect. “I’m flattered if I’m an inspiration,” says Dutton, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and insists he feels safe competing at the Games. “I like to associate myself with up and coming people and try to stay current in the sport, and not sort of dwell on what it was like in the good old days. I try to be looking ahead. I’m excited to test myself. I’m not a person who shies away from something difficult”
Brady. Mickelson. In Tokyo, why not Phillip Dutton and Z?
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