“Old Man” Ross Powers Makes Olympic Run

It’s common for professional athletes to change their roles as they age. George Blanda was an NFL quarterback who became primarily a kicker. As a result, he played 26 years in a league where the average career is only 3.5 seasons. In Major League Baseball, the designated hitter position, to quote Tony Gwynn, “allows older players to play a few more years.” Tennis players, for their part, can extend their careers by moving from singles to doubles matches.

Competitive snowboarding, too, may have a new career path for its old veterans, though as is the case with most sports at the highest level, “old” is relative.

Ross Powers won a bronze medal in the halfpipe competition of the 1998 Olympics–a distant era in the world of snowboarding. He went on to win gold at subsequent Olympic and World Cup events.

Now, Powers may compete in the 2010 Olympics. He just won’t do it in the halfpipe. He’s running in snowboard cross, which is something like a track meet on snowboards, with elbow jabs expected. He placed third in a recent qualifying event, in Telluride, Colorado.

According to the Ski Channel, Powers was inspired to take up snowboard cross while he was an alternate in halfpipe at the 2006 games: “I grew up doing a little of everything, racing gates, doing freestyle. In 2006, I was the alternate in the halfpipe, went over to Torino, watched these guys do snowboardcross, and I was fired up about it.”

Since Powers started snowboarding at age 9, he’s not exactly someone in my target audience–people who take up snowboarding after age 30. After all, he is … 30. But it’s good to see him adapt and succeed. I’m looking forward to seeing him race next year.