THEY seem the picture of health. But there are alarming signs that athletes
are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the unrelenting drive toward
excellence.
“Most athletes say that they are happy to die early if it means that they
could win Olympic gold,” says exercise physiologist Richard Winsley of Exeter
University. “That’s the mindset we are dealing with.”
Although deaths are rare, sportsmen and women are falling ill with an
ever-widening range of ailments. Many are caused by one particular problem,
overtraining syndrome. “People train harder and harder,” says sports
physiologist David Jones at Birmingham University. “But the…
