Age no barrier for Ireland's Olympic medal hope Joseph Murphy

The 47-year-old eventer is aiming to make an impact in Paris.

FULL FLOW: Ireland's Joseph Murphy on Westwinds Hercules. Pic: INPHO/Lorraine O’Sullivan

Whatever the image that pops to mind when you picture an Olympian, Oscar Gomer Swahn is not it. The Swede once stood for a photo during the 1912 Games in Stockholm and it makes for an incongruous shot devoid of shorts, singlets or sweat.

The elderly man in frame is a couple of months shy of 65 as he stands there in a field wearing a bowler hat, a heavy overcoat and a great, white beard that funnels symmetrically halfway down his chest. His left hand holds the barrel of a rifle to one side.