Laura Kraut made Olympic history on Friday by becoming the oldest American medalist in 72 years.
Kraut was part of the U.S. equestrian team that won silver behind Great Britain at Versailles, where host France won bronze. At 58, she is the oldest American to win a medal at the Olympics since Everard “Ducky” Endt, who won a sailing gold medal at age 59 at the 1952 Helsinki Games.
Kraut won silver with her teammates Karl Cook and McClain Ward, and their horses Baloutinue, Caracole de la Roque and Ilex. It was Kraut’s third Olympic medal in team jumping: she won gold in Beijing in 2008 and silver at the last Games, in Tokyo. The US has now won silver in the event at the last three Olympics.
The oldest Olympic medal winner ever, excluding art competitions in the early versions of the Games, is Oscar Swahn. Kraut still has some work to do to break his record: he was 72 when he won silver in the shooting event in 1920. He is also the oldest Olympic champion ever: the Swede won gold in the single-shot running deer in 1912, when he was 64.
Elsewhere on Friday, Team USA won its first Olympic sailing medal since Rio eight years ago. The U.S. men’s single sculls, Ian Barrows and Hans Henken, surprised with a surprise bronze, ending a sailing medal deficit for the Americans.
“It was just disbelief, honestly,” Henken said. Barrows was equally surprised. “The whole fleet is so good that we knew we had a chance, but we knew it had to go our way,” he said.