Sports and longevity

The mortality of 396 Finnish champion skiers born from 1845 to 1910 was followed up to the end of 1967. Their median life expectancy was 73.0 years, ie.e 4.3 years longer than that for the Finnish male population during the same period. Former skiers have low blood pressure, seldom smoke and are physically active. Increased longevity has been reported also for American college oarsmen and baseball players.