The tradeoff between the raw ability of fresh joints and the savvy of a mature mind used to be linear, with each slice of cake predictably and measurably pushing an athlete from precocious prodigy to washed up veteran. But this summer, Tokyo will host Gen-Z with veteran pedigrees right next to athletes staying physically competitive far past what was previously considered retirement age. One constant appears: why one competes is far more important than when.

Ahmed Fareed sits in for Lauren Shehadi to explore how swimmer Brent Hayden mounted a successful comeback a decade after his retirement and we hear from Olympic and Paralympic phenoms on their journeys through precocious high-performance childhoods.

Join us for Season 2 of NBC Sports’ The Podium.