Wimbledon handed Serena Williams and Venus Williams a wildcard into the women’s doubles draw earlier this week, and the move puts Ronaldo age back into view across elite sport. Williams is 44 and Venus Williams is 46, yet both remain in the frame at a level where most careers have already ended.
Williams Sisters Return to Wimbledon
The wildcard is the clearest sign that senior players are still being brought into major events when their level holds. Serena Williams and Venus Williams have both stayed relevant long after the age when most athletes leave the top tier, and Wimbledon’s decision reflects that reality without softening it.
Serena Williams and Venus Williams are not the only examples in the sport. Lewis Hamilton is still competing in Formula One aged 41, Luka Modrić lined up for Croatia against England on Wednesday evening at age 40, and the 2026 World Cup will feature a record eight players aged at least 40.
Age Still Takes Its Toll
The numbers point in two directions at once. Since 1992, the average age of Olympians has increased by about two years, from 25 to 27. In football, the average age of top male players moved from 26 in 1990 to 27 in 2018, while the average age of top female players rose from 23 to 26 over the same period.
Dr Liam Anderson said, “Athletes don’t stop ageing,” and added, “What sports science has done is help them slow the rate of decline and maximise what they have left.” Dr Paul Hough said, “One of the fitness qualities that most deteriorates is our explosiveness, so the ability of a muscle to produce force quickly,” which helps explain why some athletes keep their place longer than others.
What The Numbers Say
The split is clear in the athlete profiles that last. Experience, tactical awareness, anticipation, decision-making and emotional control can keep growing with age, but speed-based qualities do not. That is why older footballers often need to change how they play, while some move into roles where pace is less decisive.
The Tokyo Olympics in 2021 showed the same pattern. The average age of short-distance runners was about 25, while marathon runners averaged 30 for men and 31 for women, with the oldest competitors in both marathon races aged 44.
For Ronaldo, the issue is not whether elite athletes can last into their 40s — they already are — but whether a 40-year-old forward can keep starting through the 2026 World Cup. The age curve is moving, but it has not stopped.
