The heart of the matter: years-saved from cardiovascular and cancer deaths in an elite athlete cohort with over a century of follow-up.

To quantify the years of life saved from cardiovascular (CVD), cancer and overall deaths among elite athletes according to their main type of physiological effort performed in the Olympic Games. All French athletes participating in the Games from 1912 to 2012, with vital status validated and cause of death (if concerned) identified by the national registries were included (n = 2814, 455 died) and classified according to 6 groups of effort: POWER (continuous effort < 45 s); INTERMEDIATE (45 s ≤ continuous effort < 600 s); ENDURANCE (continuous effort ≥ 600 s); POLYVALENT (participating in different events entering different classifications), INTERMITTENT (intermittent effort, i.e.

Age-Related Changes in Locomotor Performance Reveal a Similar Pattern for Caenorhabditis elegans, Mus domesticus, Canis familiaris, Equus caballus, and Homo sapiens.

Locomotion is one of the major physiological functions for most animals. Previous studies have described aging mechanisms linked to locomotor performance among different species. However, the precise dynamics of these age-related changes, and their interactions with development and senescence, are largely unknown.

Return to Sport Among French Alpine Skiers After an Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture: Results From 1980 to 2013.

Background: There is little known about return to sport and performance after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in high-level alpine skiers.

Purpose: To analyze the parameters that influence the return to sport and performance after an ACL tear in French alpine skiers from 1980 to 2013.

Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study.

Has Athletic Performance Reached its Peak?

Limits to athletic performance have long been a topic of myth and debate. However, sport performance appears to have reached a state of stagnation in recent years, suggesting that the physical capabilities of humans and other athletic species, such as greyhounds and thoroughbreds, cannot progress indefinitely. Although the ultimate capabilities may be predictable, the exact path for the absolute maximal performance values remains difficult to assess and relies on technical innovations, sport regulation, and other parameters that depend on current societal and economic conditions.

Mortality in female and male French Olympians: a 1948-2013 cohort study.

Background: Whereas intense physical activity has been associated with deleterious effects on elite athletes' health, in particular due to cardiovascular anomalies, long-term follow-ups have suggested lower mortality rates among elite athletes. Causes of death for French Olympic athletes and female elite athletes have not been studied.

Hypothesis/purpose: We aimed to measure overall and disease-specific mortality of French female and male Olympians compared with the French general population.

Row for your life: a century of mortality follow-up of French olympic rowers.

Background/aim: Strenuous endurance training required to participate in the highest sports level has been associated with deleterious effects on elite athletes' health and cardiac abnormalities. We aimed to describe overall mortality and main causes of deaths of male French rowers participating in at least one Olympic Game (OG) from 1912 to 2012 in comparison with the French general population.

Methods: Identity information and vital status of French Olympic rowers were validated by National sources from 1912 to 2013 (study's endpoint) among 203 rowers; 52 out of 255 (20.

Learning From Leaders: Life-span Trends in Olympians and Supercentenarians.

Life-span trends progression has worldwide practical implications as it may affect the sustainability of modern societies. We aimed to describe the secular life-span trends of populations with a propensity to live longer-Olympians and supercentenarians-under two hypotheses: an ongoing life-span extension versus a biologic "probabilistic barrier" limiting further progression. In a study of life-span densities (total number of life durations per birth date), we analyzed 19,012 Olympians and 1,205 supercentenarians deceased between 1900 and 2013.

Environment and scheduling effects on sprint and middle distance running performances.

Purpose: Achievement of athletes' performances is related to several factors including physiological, environmental and institutional cycles where physical characteristics are involved. The objective of this study is to analyse the performance achieved in professional sprint and middle-distance running events (100 m to 1500 m) depending on the organization of the annual calendar of track events and their environmental conditions.

Methods: From 2002 to 2008, all performances of the Top 50 international athletes in the 100 m to 1500 m races (men and women) are collected.

Marathon progress: demography, morphology and environment.

As opposed to many other track-and-field events, marathon performances still improve. We choose to better describe the reasons for such a progression. The 100 best marathon runners archived from January 1990 to December 2011 for men and from January 1996 to December 2011 for women were analysed.

Mortality of French participants in the Tour de France (1947-2012).

Aims: In the context of recent concerns regarding performance enhancing techniques and potential negative health effects of high-level physical activity, data on the long-term outcomes and causes of death in elite endurance cyclists are of particular interest.

Methods And Results: Characteristics and vital status of all French participants in the Tour de France were collected for the 1947-2012 period. Causes of death were obtained from 1968.