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It's inspiring to see Olympians in their 40s, and they're more common now than ever. Scientists say athletes' endurance is likely due to innate molecular advantages, and studying them could help us understand and slow aging for all of us. The oldest athletes at the Paris Games were in shooting, table tennis and equestrian events. Golf, beach volleyball, cycling, sailing, rowing and fencing also had a large number of middle-aged athletes. And in skateboarding, Andy MacDonald, 51, in overalls, and Dallas Oberholzer, 49, with graying hair, made a beautiful sight. They not only broke the stereotype of older athletes, but also won the race against time. Russell Hoppler, a professor of physical therapy at the University of Florida, is currently studying people in their 80s and 90s who continue to exercise. While there may be more funding for research on centenarians, he believes that studying older people with strong athletic ability is more meaningful. At 70, Ed Whitlock has repeatedly completed a full marathon in under three hours. Prolonging life should not be the only goal, but also ensuring the health and quality of life. At present, the research team has only collected data from 15 people over 75 years old, but they are all world sports champions in this age group. Some research subjects may die around the age of 80 or 90, but they still insist on exercising until the last few weeks or days of their lives.

△ Canadian long-distance runner Ed Whitlock Source: Foreign media In a study, they found that compared with ordinary elderly people, these "super" elderly people have up to hundreds of proteins in their bodies. Some proteins are related to athletic performance, but some of the functions are still unknown. What they want to figure out is which differences are due to the individual's extensive exercise, and which are genetic gifts that can be replicated by drugs. Mitochondria, the power plant of the human body, are currently a major research hotspot. They have their own DNA and life patterns. In our cells, they are experiencing the process of birth, aging, illness and death hundreds of times. Scientists believe that animals obtain mitochondria from bacteria that invade early cells and form a symbiotic relationship with them. Scientists recently discovered that aging deprives the body of the ability to clean up metabolic byproducts such as kynurenine, which is closely related to the decline of physical and cognitive abilities. It is the mitochondria that play this scavenger role. Researchers say that when there are more mitochondria in cells and they work normally, people have more physical strength and more precise control over their muscles and minds. Top athletes are often able to effectively maintain the precise and harmonious operation of the major systems of the body. As people age, the number of mitochondria in their cells decreases, but this rate is slower for people who exercise frequently, who are able to activate a process called "mitochondrial biogenesis." In this process, old mitochondria die, are cleared from the cell and replaced by new ones. As we age, biomarkers that monitor failed mitochondria become slack, which means that the quality and quantity of our internal miniature power plants are declining. At the same time, the immune system malfunctions more frequently. If you are a certain age and don't like to exercise, and suddenly decide to go out for a three-kilometer run on a Sunday morning, your body will produce a lot of inflammatory factors, which will make you feel sore the next day. But if you run a little every day, the baseline level of inflammatory factors will drop, and the chance of chronic disease will also decrease. Perhaps in the future, researchers will be able to find customized drugs that can effectively control inflammation while ensuring mitochondrial metabolism. Gary Palmer, owner of a sports performance center in Cannock, UK, said that those who have been competing for decades actually enjoy it; we must abandon the old idea of ​​"no pain, no gain" and listen to the call of the body and choose the right time to rest. Aging is not a continuous decline. In this process, there are also some valuable opportunities for optimization, improvement, and skill acquisition. Top-level training and hardware facilities extend the careers of Olympic athletes. And with the deepening of scientific research, the rare youthfulness today may become commonplace in the future. Source: Global Times