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Holly Thorpe, Professor in Sociology of Sport and Physical Culture, University of Waikato

Old gold: how action sports athletes are challenging age stereotypes and redefining lifelong physical activity

Veteran snowboarder Shaun White in action at the Beijing Winter Olympics. GettyImages

The stereotype of action sports as the domain of the young and the cool is long out of date. The demographics of these sports – surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, climbing, mountain biking – have been expanding to include more girls and women, queer and non-binary people and older participants.

These demographic and cultural shifts have been highlighted recently by the remarkable achievements and career highlights of some of these sports’ greatest exponents.

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