to take up a competitive sport at age 45?

[ChamomileLawn]

clearly I’m a little bit old to be good at gymnastics or hurdles, I don’t want to spend hours trundling up and down a pool.
i’ve never got the hang of team games like football or hockey. I skived PE from age 13 onwards. I have dabbled in a little slow running previously until knackered tendons put paid to that.

I am now 45, quite fat and very unfit but I do feel I need an actual go at a commonwealth/Olympic medal.

so what sport can I take up? Archery? Bowls?

You need to focus on sports with age category competitions. If you can just outlive everyone else, you don't need a particular talent for it. Start now and aim to be competitive in fifty years time.

He went to a "try it out" session and enjoyed it so much he carried on training, he's competing as a veteran.

I took up cricket and golf in my 40s, love them both. Very sociable.

Your still in a team if you play football, rugby, or netball.

LOL! Only on the basis that there may be fewer than three competitors.

OP will be crap at it because she has no strength. (And probs no technique either) at least to start with.

Archery. Apparently Geena Davis took up archery in 1997 and in 1999 competed in the US Olympic trials. She would have been in her 40s. (I don’t have an obsessive interest in Geena Davis, I remember the story at the time and just looked it up on Wikipedia 😁) Failing that, I think Nick Skelton was 60 when he won an Olympic showjumping medal, but he definitely had about 40 years experience.

Could you claim citizenship of a very small country? Frankly, this is going to be easier if you can compete for, eg, the Marshall Islands.

Ok.
So I’ve contemplated a horse but haven’t got room to keep one. Also I think horsing is expensive.
I’m not a team person so no team stuff. Even if walking. I want all the glory for myself.
shot. Not sure if I can source a training club that would only accept me for shot training. I think it’s a bit too niche.
weight lifting. Possibly. But the thought of walking into a gym makes me nauseous and the social side also puts me off. I don’t want to have to actually talk to anyone.

archery or fencing could be fun. Also useful come the apocalypse.

or maybe I’ll just get back to running/slow plodding.

And if I move to Fiji my chance of being selected would also be greatly improved. So that’s a definite plan.

triathlon! There are age categories and you can represent GB. I did it (raced for gb) at 42 after only cycling for 9 months. Granted I was a decent runner but literally had never cycled properly before. It can be done!

No gym work, no team sports, no talking to anyone... single sculls rowing? Dinghy sailing? Orienteering? Rally driving?

I took up acrobatics, ground and aerial, at 42 and am pretty good at it. I'm obviously never going to the Olympics (and I'm not from a Commonwealth country) but I can do some pretty cool stuff and regularly impress random teenagers. (Kids and adults too, but it's impressing teens that really makes me feel good because those guys are the hardest to impress.)

Oh no, wait, you'd have someone in the passenger seat of your rally car yelling directions at you. Scrap that. (Although easy to practise with partner)

This is a great thread. I have no suggestions. But so far you’re moving to Fuji and living to ninety and then you might be in with a chance. 🤣

What about curling? Don't want to offend anyone but when I first saw it and someone said it was an Olympic sport I thought it was a comedy skit. All that weird brushing is mental...

Had you done anything like that before? I'm mid-forties with a hankering to learn tumbling.

I took up acrobatics, ground and aerial, at 42 and am pretty good at it. I'm obviously never going to the Olympics (and I'm not from a Commonwealth country) but I can do some pretty cool stuff and regularly impress random teenagers. (Kids and adults too, but it's impressing teens that really makes me feel good because those guys are the hardest to impress.)

I am so envious of you. This is my ultimate dream but atm I am an overweight, unfit 36 year old with low muscle tone. @Wanderingowl how did you get started?

Nick Skelton had been riding pretty much since he was born. I think it would be very hard to get to olympic level in most equestrian sports if you hadn't ridden since childhood, though I had an aunt who did pretty well in endurance after taking up riding in her fifties. The type of riding you do in Endurance in far less complex - mostly trotting or slow canter. It's more about horse management.

Do you live near a shooting range?

One of my DH's family was a promising curler in his youth (I know, it sounds like a euphemism) and apparently - back then, anyway - it was quite an expensive sport to get into, with a fair bit of travelling. And most of the rinks are in Scotland. He insists you need to be quite fit to do the scrubbing/throwing.

Still, might be easier to move to Kirkcudbright than Fiji?

What about rowing on a Concept 2 rowing machine? You can be videoed to proof your time and result so you don’t have to go anywhere or the machine may log it. It will require a lot of training and effort though.

Just realised there are no medals involved in indoor rowing - sorry!

I was going to suggest a Pacific Island, it'll certainly maximise your chance of selection.
Or have you considered Nepal or Papua New Guinea? No curling team that I know of.

Crown green bowling. My friend did it to county level, had a few years off and now back at it, back to county level.

You won't get an Olympic gold but you might win a few competitions. And it helps that the average age will make you a whipper snapper.

Powerlifting or archery.

Would you settle for a team jacket, if not a medal? Is there any way you can get selected for the Isle of Man's commonwealth games lawn bowls team?