Physiological Profile of a 59-Year-Old Male World Record Holder Marathoner In this study, the cardioreespiratory capacity and the running economy of a 59-year-old former Olympic athlete rated a marathon in 2:30:15 h: min: s. The athlete moved with 32 years (best marathon performance: 2:13:59 h: min: s) for a period of 16 years after participating in the Olympic Games Returned. Heart rate (HR), oxygen uptake (VO2), breathing (VE), blood lactate concentration (LA), step frequency (SF) and tread economy (RE) were measured during a treadmill running test. His Hrmax, Vemax, Lamax and Vo2max amounted to 165 strokes / min, 115 l / min, 5.7 mmol / l and 65.4 ml / min. His marathon pace was his running economy 210 ml × kg-1 × km-1 with a frequency of 199 ± 0.55 s × min-1 and its oxygen intake corresponded to 91% of its Vo2max. This study shows that it has succeeded in the 59-year-old former Olympic marathon runner despite a 16-year training break, to limit the age-related power of performance to “5% per decade.
In general, these data suggest that well-trained athletes limit the age-related decline in endurance performance at least until the age of 60 years and maintain their ability to maintain a high intensity (> 90% of Vo2max) over a long period of time (2-3 h load duration). The case report can be found under https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31652243/