Hello all,
Hopefully, somebody of the statisticians can answer one of the following
questions:

- has a 40+ year old ever made it to a (sprint) final in one of the
major championships (worlds or olympics) - individually or as a member
of the relay team?
- and if not: what is the furthest a 40+ year old (sprinter) ever got in
these championships?

There is of course a background to these questions: soon-to-be-40 year
old Troy Douglas (30/11/'62) has announced he will continue in the
individual 200 meters for one more year (until Paris 2003). He then
plans to retire from the individual events, but wants to participate in
the Dutch relay team in their effort to qualify for the olympics in
Athens (at what time he will be 41).
Only last year, at 38, Douglas (a former Bermudan) broke the Dutch
records for both the 100 and 200 meters: 10.19 and 20.19. This year, he
made it to the European championship finals (4th in '98), but (mostly
due to minor injuries) he did not run as fast (although he was still
good for 10.28 and 20.56, pretty impressive times for a 39-year old who
has competed in three olympics >before< Sydney 2000).

Regards,
Wilmar Kortleever