# Health among Retired Great Britain’s Olympic Athletes: A cross-sectional Study of Disease and Multimorbidity

## TL;DR

Retired Olympic athletes in Great Britain have better cardiovascular health and lower multimorbidity but higher risks of skin cancer and osteoarthritis compared to the general population.

## Contribution

This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of long-term health and multimorbidity in retired Olympic athletes compared to a general population.

## Key findings

- Retired athletes had lower risks of diabetes, stroke, obesity, asthma, lung disease, angina, and eye disorders.
- They had higher risks of melanoma or other skin cancer and osteoarthritis.
- Multimorbidity was less prevalent among retired athletes due to better cardiovascular health.

## Abstract

Currently, there is a paucity of long-term health data for retired athletes. This study describes the prevalence of common morbidities and multimorbidity among retired Great Britain’s (GB) Olympic athletes, compared to a general population comparator group.

A cross-sectional study of retired athletes was undertaken. The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) served as the reference population. Age- and sex-standardized morbidity ratios (SMRs) and odd ratios (ORs) determined where morbidity and multimorbidity prevalence amongst retired athletes exceeded or were inferior to those of the reference population.

Retired athletes (n = 493) were less likely (SMR < 1) than controls (n = 8024) to report diabetes (0.43, 99% CI 0.22, 0.74), stroke (0.39, 99% CI 0.12, 0.90), obesity (0.35, 99% CI 0.23, 0.50), asthma (0.29, 99% CI 0.12, 0.59), lung disease (0.29, 99% CI 0.06, 0.81), angina (0.18, 99% CI 0.05, 0.46), and eye disorders (0.06, 99% CI 0.01, 0.18). In addition, abnormal heart rhythm (0.45, 99% CI 0.40, 0.54) and osteoporosis (0.46, 99% CI 0.42, 0.51) were lower in female athletes. Retired athletes were more likely (SMR > 1) than controls to report melanoma or other skin cancer (5.64, 99% CI 2.80, 10.06) and osteoarthritis (1.44, 99% CI 1.18, 1.75). There were no differences detected in cancers of the breast, prostate, colon, bowel or bladder. Multimorbidity was less prevalent among retired athletes (OR 0.50, 99% CI 0.38, 0.67).

Retired athletes had superior cardiovascular health and a lower risk of multimorbidity, but were more at risk of melanoma or other skin cancer and osteoarthritis.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40798-025-00897-8.

Retired British Olympic athletes were more at risk of melanoma or other skin cancer, and osteoarthritis, irrespective of sex, with skin cancer more common in those from outdoor sporting disciplines (sailing, rowing, athletics).

Compared to an age- and-sex matched general population comparator group, the risk of multimorbidity was lower in male and female retired Olympic athletes, and driven by superior cardiovascular health in those from endurance and power sporting disciplines.

Future athlete welfare and prevention strategies will need to adapt to different groups of athletes and to disease status in different body systems based on risk factors with the greatest impact.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40798-025-00897-8.