US rower Meghan Musnicki’s love for the sport keeps her going for 4th Olympics at 41
From the 58-year-old table tennis player making her Olympic debut to the equestrian rider competing in his seventh Games at the age of 62, at Paris 2024 athletes of all ages are making an impact in their sport. The Straits Times looks at three athletes who are proving that age is no barrier to achieving their dreams.
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American rower Meghan Musnicki (third from right) retired from the sport after the Tokyo Olympics but returned for the Paris Games.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
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PARIS – Rowing has an inexplicable pull on Meghan Musnicki.
On a scorching morning in late July, the 41-year-old found herself in a boat at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, competing alongside United States teammates like Margaret Hedeman, who is 18 years her junior.
It was not always the plan for her to be in Paris for her fourth Olympics. After a heartbreaking campaign in Tokyo, where she missed out on a podium spot for the first time in three outings, she retired from the sport.
But an unexpected turn of events saw the two-time Olympic champion returning to the world’s biggest sporting event with the women’s eight – making history as the oldest American woman to compete in the event.
She told The Straits Times: “I love the sport. I love to race. I love to compete. I felt like I still had more to learn and my body was holding up... so why not?”
Her start in rowing was also unexpected. In her freshman year at St Lawrence University, she was on her way to meet the basketball coach when another coach suggested she try rowing.
After that, much of her life revolved around the sport as she shelved plans to become a nurse to pursue rowing.
After three rejections by the US national team, she made her world championships debut in 2010 and went on to win five world titles, on top of her two Olympic golds.
She retired once in 2016, but the allure of competitive rowing was too strong.
She said: “One of the things I missed the most is being with a group of women like this, and training with them day in and day out and kind of like pushing our limits.”
After walking away from competitive sport again in 2021, she married California Rowing Club coach and former US national team member Skip Kielt, and worked at a tech company.
She continued rowing with Australian Olympic champion Jessica Morrison to keep fit, until former US Olympic team coach Mike Teti suggested that they race in one of the most prestigious regattas in the world – the Henley Royal Regatta.
That kick-started Musnicki’s comeback and she returned to the national team in January.
She said: “Initially, it was a little bit challenging because it’s a big commitment, but my family and my husband had been nothing but very supportive of me.
“I wouldn’t be able to get through this without their support and the support of everybody else from like, my home town in Naples, who cheer me on, writing notes or sending me messages.”
Meghan Musnicki (fifth from left) is the oldest American woman to compete in the women’s eight.
PHOTO: AFP
While the US missed out on a medal after finishing fifth, Musnicki said that her experience has taught her to chase her dreams.
She said: “If you have a passion and a drive for something, don’t put limits on yourself.
“If you want to try and do something and are willing to put in the effort that it takes to do it, then no matter what your age or where you come from or where you began, go after it.”
