Winter Olympics: Canada's Duff Gibson, 39, became the oldest gold medallist for an individual event in the history of Winter Olympics when he won the men's skeleton title at the Turin Games.
Gibson beat the record set by Norway's Magnar Solberg, who was 35 when he won gold in the 20-km biathlon in 1972 in
Sapporo.
Ireland's David Connolly failed to threaten for a medal, despite recording a personal best on his first run, and finished 20th in the overall standings.
Jeff Pain completed a Canadian one-two with the silver medal while Gregor Staehli of Switzerland settled for the bronze.
The oldest Winter Olympic champion for any event is Jay O'Brien, who was 48 when he won four-man bobsleigh gold for the United States at the 1932 Games in Lake Placid.
A fire fighter by profession, Gibson proved he could also tame ice by clocking the fastest time in both runs to post a combined winning time of one minute 55.88 seconds.
On a memorable day for Canada, world champion Pain, 35, was second best in both heats and ended 0.26 second back after surviving a scare by clipping the wall with the finish in sight in his second run.
Britain had hoped for another medal after Shelley Rudman's surprise silver in the women's competition yesterday. Rudman's partner, Kristan Bromley, was in third position after his first run with fellow Briton Adam Pengilly also still in contention for the podium in fourth place.
Both struggled in the second run, Bromley finishing fifth and Pengilly ending up eighth.
There was disappointment also for the United States, whose top prospect, Zach Lund, was kicked out of the Games following a positive test he blamed on a hair growth stimulant.
The Americans, who had won gold four years ago courtesy of the now retired Jim Shea Jr., had to be content with Eric Bernotas's sixth place.