Study: Olympic gold medallists die before other finalists

Athletes who won an individual gold medal in track and field have a shorter life expectancy than the other finalists around them.

In an interesting new study, intended to shed light on the impact of status on mortality, Adam Leive, a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania, analyzed how winning an Olympic gold medal in track and field affected mortality relative to other finalists.

Levive found that those who won a gold medal in a team event — the 4x100m or 4x400m relays — had the longest survival rate after their gold medal of all the athletes looked at. On the flip side, individual gold medallists died, on average, two years earlier than the other finalists they raced against.

The paper does note that financial incentives were likely not a factor in the results. Professional athletes were not allowed to compete in the Olympics before 1980 and athletes who have competed after that cutoff are largely still alive.