A recent study involving 59 Olympic gold medalists, including 10 females and 49 males, alongside 329 controls, examined the impact of athletic achievement on epigenetic aging.

The research found that male recent medalists exhibited significantly lower epigenetic age acceleration compared to past medalists, while female recent medalists showed a higher acceleration.

Additionally, male Olympic champions demonstrated decreased age acceleration as measured by specific epigenetic clocks, including Skin-Blood and PhenoAge.

In contrast, female champions displayed significant decreases in age acceleration when compared to non-champions.

Telomere length analysis revealed that Olympic champions had increased age-adjusted DNA methylation telomere length compared to non-champions for both sexes.

These findings suggest that long-term exercise, especially when initiated at a young age, leads to enduring epigenetic changes that may enhance longevity.

The researchers indicated that factors such as training types, nutrition, and education levels could influence the observed differences in epigenetic aging.

Methylation analysis pinpointed key genes with hypomethylation in champions, which are associated with essential cellular processes, while hypermethylation was linked to tumor suppression and fertility.

Supporting previous research, the study highlights that lifestyle choices during adolescence significantly impact adult DNA methylation patterns.

A parallel study on Hungarian Olympic champions corroborated these findings, showing slower epigenetic aging and distinct gene methylation patterns compared to non-champions.

Moreover, the research indicated that different sports disciplines affect age acceleration variably, with wrestling exhibiting higher age acceleration compared to gymnastics, fencing, and water polo among male athletes.