Abstract
Emergent evidence suggests that the long-term healthy lifestyle of master athletes
may attenuate aging. We compared telomere length (TL) of high-level master sprinters
and non-athlete age-matched controls, and analyzed the relationships of TL with performance
and body fat. Elite master sprinters (n=11; aged 50.1±9.2yrs) and healthy untrained
controls (n=10; aged 45.4±10.9yrs) had blood samples collected for biochemical and
biomolecular analyses. Master sprinters had longer TL, lower body fat and BMI, and
a better lipid profile than age-matched controls (p<0.05). A large effect size was
verified comparing TL between athletes vs. controls (Cohen’s d=1.039), with a significant
negative correlation between TL and performance decline per decade (r=−0.624, p<0.01)
and a positive correlation of TL and actual performance level (r=0.641, p<0.01). In
conclusion, TL of elite master sprinters was longer than their untrained peers, and
seems to be not only a marker of health status, but also an indicator of sports longevity
since both actual performance level and its decrease over years were related to TL.
Further research might assess the TL of elite master endurance athletes for comparison
with sprinters, and also investigate the underlying mechanisms by which the attenuation
of telomere shortening occurs in master athletes.
Key words
aging - lifespan - training - athletics - performance
