A HUGE grin, a bronze medal - Yorkshire's Yvonne McGregor hit the headlines after pedalling her way to success in the Olympics. The newspapers were full of it, radio and television presenters blabbed on about it. And why not? It's great news. But did they have to keep mentioning the world "old"?

She may be 39, she may be the games' oldest cycling competitor, but the way it's reported - the undertones of amazement that she would even make it around the track let along clock up a super-fast time. To be honest, the way the commentators have been talking, she might as well be 79.

People are living longer nowadays. Pensioners aren't seen as stooping, creaky, grey-haired beings who limit their weekly activities to a game of whist. They are sky diving, yachting, rock climbing and mountain biking. They're seen as the fast and furious Third Agers. Yet, if you're 30-something you only have to hint at a desire to abseil or water ski, and there's eyebrow raising all round. "I'm going roller skating," I recently told my mother, having decided to accompany my daughter on to the rink at a children's birthday party. "Aren't you a bit old for that?" she asked.

A friend reacted similarly a couple of weeks ago when - eager to lose weight - I bought myself a pair of jogging bottoms. I found myself having to pluck up the courage to tell her. In fact, I'd have been less embarrassed taking a mock-leather G-string out of the carrier bag.

"Look, I'm going running," I chirped, wafting the navy blue and purple lycra in front of her, only to be shot down by stifled sniggers and comments about ancient limbs not being up to it.

I've yet to find out whether, as they say, "life begins at 40". To date I would stick to the words "life ends at 30".

I don't want to hear the word "veteran" applied to tennis supremo John McEnroe - who's not much older than me.

Or the expression "older mum" slapped on anyone who gives birth over the age of 29. Then there's the jobs market - if newspaper reports are to be believed any adult whose age starts with a number three might as well shred their cv.

We're not "old", we 30-somethings. True, our teenage years are well and truly in the past and of course we're older than 20-somethings. But we really shouldn't be so readily linked with the word "old".

And if pubic opinion says otherwise, how about treating us as such and giving us free TV licences and bus passes? That would make the OAP tag a little more bearable.