Contrary to popular belief, running a marathon does not increase the risk of a heart attack. Health experts recommend nevertheless a medical checkup before embarking on such a race. The image of the marathon runner who collapses, suddenly struck by a heart attack, just before or shortly after crossing the finishing line, is a troubling image that implants a seed of doubt in our minds. These tragic accidents, sometimes relayed by television...

Researchers of the l’Institut de recherche biomédicale et d’épidémiologie du sport (Irmes) have observed that in most of the sports disciplines, athletes have reached a physiological limit since the 1980s. ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ or ‘faster, higher, stronger’ has been the motto of the Olympics. For Henri Didon, a French preacher who coined that motto, ‘it contains the basis and rationale behind...