Ok, so is it just me? I’ve googled and not found anyone else asking about this.
Whenever the Olympics come around and they start talking about individual athletes, how come they never say, “She is 25, and this is her first appearance?” How come they never say, “She is 25 years old, and this is her first appearance?
They always say “She is 25 YEARS OF AGE!”
Sheeesh!!! What about “pounds (or kilos) of weight” or “feet (or inches, or cm) of height?
What is up with that???
I don’t see the problem. Age appears to play a factor in sport simply because sport is generally a younger person’s area. To be an ice skater you have to be extremely flexible… like a gymnast… and that flexibility is only present in the young. Downhill skiing, hockey, ski jumping… all of these require flexibility, strength, speed and those are hallmarks of the young, not the old. So… yeah: I can appreciate that commentators would zero in on the age of the athletes. Maybe I’m missing something in your comment.
It depends a lot on which sport – in some the very young often have an advantage, but endurance sports are often won by the older and more experiences. It is rare that young athletes win the 50km skiing or 10000m skating events. But in any case, age is very important to see if somebody is exceptional. A 40 year old ski jumber or a 20-year old 50 km runner would be exceptional enough to merit special attention.