Photo: NBC Bay Area
American snowboarder Nick Baumgartner has competed in the Olympics as a member of Team USA five times. You’d hardly have blamed broadcasters for assuming the 2026 Cortina Milano Games could be his last at 44 years old — a statement made during NBC’s broadcast back in February — but the Michigan native was quick to brush that off at the time. In a recent interview with NBC, though, Baumgartner was asked to elaborate on his Olympic plans, and it turns out he could be far from hanging the boots up.
Specifically, Baumgartner was asked if 2030 in France would be the end of his Olympic road.
“We could say 2030, but let’s be honest. How cool would it be to retire on home soil? 2034 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Is it possible? I don’t know. Are we gonna find out? Absolutely,” he answered honestly.
If Baumgartner can make Team USA leading up to the 2034 Games he’ll be 52 years old. Boardsports fans — surfing fans specifically — can remember a time when talk of Kelly Slater declaring he wanted to compete in the 2020 Olympics (he was 48 when the 2020 Games came around) was major news. Those Olympics were delayed until 2021, which made Slater 49 at the time, but he never qualified.
So, how does Baumgartner’s goal stack up as far as oldest Olympians ever? He was the oldest American, but curler Rich Ruohonen became Team USA’s oldest current athlete when he qualified for the 2026 Games. Austrian snowboarder Claudia Riegler was the oldest female athlete at the Cortina Milano Olympics, matching Rouhonen at 52. And both of them are still a full two decades short of Swedish rifleman Oscar Swahn, who was the oldest competitor ever (72, 1920 Olympics) and is still the oldest gold medalist (64 years and 258 days at the 1912 Olympics).
“There’s one kid who’s been calling me grandpa for quite a few years. A lot of them are starting to do that now, but I love it,” Baumgartner admits. “I couldn’t be more proud to be the age that I am, doing the thing that I’m doing. It’s the greatest part about my story.”
He’s definitely aging gracefully, and having a whole lot of fun along the way.
