Hammer Death

This post may be deleted by the moderator, but I'll fire away anyway.

iaaf.org reports that '84 OG champion Juha Tiainen recently passed away. (http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=2/newsId=21069.html) He was 47 years old.

ESPN Magazine a few months back ran a story on the first NFL's Strongest Man competition, which apparently was rife with drugs. Of the eight men who competed back in the late 70s, four did not live past 50 years old.

Just thought I'd let you know.

Re: Hammer Death

My doctor has told me for years that those of us with the body types of those who compete in contests like that are predisposed towards "early deaths," drugs or no. Comes with the territory. Of course, he's a wimp and probably just jealous.

[jsquire]

Re: Hammer Death

A study of elite Finnish athletes over the last 80 years showed that all athletes of every stripe had extended life expectancies over the average Finn (and the average Finn has a decently healthy lifestyle).

There was one exception: weightlifters after about 1956 showed markedly decreased lifespans, even though weightlifters before 1956 had increased lifespans. The conclusion that was drawn? Steroids lead to an early death.