Aging athletes like LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Lindsey Vonn resemble high-performance racing cars—maintained with the help of mechanics, data analysts, and a variety of spare parts. “If you look at many elite athletes now, they have an army of supporting staff, much like a Formula 1 team,” said Hirofumi Tanaka, an exercise physiologist at the University of Texas, in an interview with The Associated Press.

James of the Los Angeles Lakers and skier Vonn recently turned 40, and Ronaldo will reach that milestone on February 5. Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton also celebrated his 40th birthday a few weeks ago and will now compete for Ferrari.
“They have physical therapists, dietitians, massage therapists, strength coaches, and so on,” Tanaka added. “This holistic approach helps these athletes maintain their performance.”
Athletes like quarterback Tom Brady, hockey legend Jaromir Jagr, and pitcher Nolan Ryan all retired at the top of their game in their 40s. Martina Navratilova won the U.S. Open mixed doubles title in 2006, just a month before turning 50.

Then there’s Gordie Howe, who played his last NHL season at 52. Japanese soccer player Kazuyoshi Miura will turn 58 in February and plans to play his 40th professional season with fourth-tier Suzuka.
Don’t forget Hall of Famer Satchel Paige, who pitched three scoreless innings at 59 with the Kansas City Athletics in 1965.

While this isn’t exactly new, it used to be rare. What has changed is the frequency of older athletes, the array of support staff they have, and the expectation that they can continue competing at a high level.

At any Grand Slam tennis event, the winner and runner-up often thank their “teams” as a group of staff members rise to applause from the crowd.

Peak performance at the Olympics

Tanaka, who analyzed Olympic data dating back to the first modern Games in 1896, found that the peak-performance age for men has stayed steady—between 20 and 30 years old, depending on the sport.
However, Olympians in general are getting older, and the statistics for women show a similar trend.
“Women’s peak performance age was much younger 20 or 30 years ago,” he said. “But now that peak-performance age is becoming very similar to men.”
Tanaka attributes this change partly to cultural shifts regarding marriage and childbearing, which used to push women to retire earlier from elite competition.

Of course, there are exceptions, like Syrian athlete Hend Zaza. At just 12, she was the youngest competitor in the Tokyo Olympics, which were delayed until 2021.
A key indicator of older athletes maintaining their performance is the rise of Masters athletes. Though there is no universal age limit, each sport sets its own criteria for Masters athletes.
“Older athletes are getting closer to younger athletes,” Tanaka noted. “And the older the Masters athlete is, the greater the improvement.”

The case of LeBron James

James reportedly spends around $1.5 million a year on maintaining his body, though he has neither confirmed nor denied the figure. With an estimated net worth of over $1 billion, he can afford this investment.
James discusses staying at the top of his game in the Netflix series “Starting 5.” While he may not be getting better with age, his decline has been minimal.
“In some ways, he’s a freak of nature,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “I’ve been around a lot of great players, and he’s one of the hardest-working. He doesn’t take a day off—he doesn’t even take an afternoon off.
“He’s always working on some part of his body,” Silver added. “You meet with him, and he’s always soaking something or eating something or has some contraption attached to him.”

Lindsey Vonn’s comeback and her titanium knee

Vonn is making a comeback on the World Cup circuit after receiving a titanium replacement for her right knee. Like James, Vonn never really stepped away after breaking into the NBA at 18.
Vonn, like James, has spoken about the benefits of ice baths and recovery methods that were unavailable earlier in her career.
She finds inspiration in athletes like Brady, Hamilton, and Serena Williams, who won her last Grand Slam singles title at 35 at the Australian Open in 2017, while pregnant—though she didn’t announce it until later.
“Tom, Lewis, Serena—they’ve all done it,” Vonn said. “The resources athletes have now allow for faster recovery, so even though you’re older, you recover more quickly than I did when I was in my 20s.”

In a recent interview in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Vonn explained that she does less now to stay fit, or at least less to keep her knee functional.
“My knee doesn’t bother me,” she said. “I don’t wake up and have to do knee exercises for 15 minutes or a 30-minute warm-up just to walk out the door.”
“I’m doing a normal warm-up like any other athlete,” she continued. “I don’t need to do anything extra, which saves energy and reduces mental strain.”
Now, Vonn focuses on maintaining the other parts of her body.