Something is rotten in the Flanders?

ugo.santalucia
ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,172
edited June 2019 in Pro race
Goolaerts, Myngheer, and now 15 year old Lemmens.

Young, fit and healthy, except they all died of heart attack. Is there something hidden out there we haven't heard about yet or just a coincidence?
left the forum March 2023

Comments

  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,217
    Lots of young, fit people can have undiagnosed heart issues and if you put your heart under a massive stress during intense exercise these things can happen.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    It's probably down to a much higher percentage of people taking part in a high risk activity, perhaps less effective or less widespread monitoring and greater frequency of these incidents being reported in the media.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,172
    Pross wrote:
    Lots of young, fit people can have undiagnosed heart issues and if you put your heart under a massive stress during intense exercise these things can happen.

    .. all Belgian
    left the forum March 2023
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    Well It's not a great look is it...

    However, like most people here I suspect I've played sport of various types since I was 7, most of which* were to push me to my (very meagre) limit multiple times. I've never had any sort of heart test...

    *I'd be lying if I said cricket had much troubled my maxHR
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,217
    Pross wrote:
    Lots of young, fit people can have undiagnosed heart issues and if you put your heart under a massive stress during intense exercise these things can happen.

    .. all Belgian

    Perhaps because cycling is relatively common in the area and you are only hearing of the cycling related deaths?

    https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/circulationaha.108.804617
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,172
    Well, given the reputation cycling has gained over the past decades, one needs to be suspicious whenever there seems to be a pattern.
    I hope the relevant teams get a knock on the door from UCI/WADA
    left the forum March 2023
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,217
    Presumably there will be / have been coroner's inquests so unless they uncovered anything suspicious why should teams be getting a knock on the door? Of course the recent history of the sport means that there will be people asking questions and they might be right to but the most likely reason is that it is simply undiagnosed underlying issues and coincidence.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,312
    The underlying issue could very well be much more prevalent in the general population, but those people just never go to that level of prolonged cardiac stress. Just like we all mostly don't need to de-train our hearts whereas elite athletes usually need to.
    Seems rather likely to be a sad coincidence.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,172
    Pross wrote:
    Presumably there will be / have been coroner's inquests so unless they uncovered anything suspicious why should teams be getting a knock on the door? Of course the recent history of the sport means that there will be people asking questions and they might be right to but the most likely reason is that it is simply undiagnosed underlying issues and coincidence.

    There were people asking questions, when they heard cyclists running around the hotel corridors in the middle of night... the easiest explanation was that they did that for training.
    left the forum March 2023
  • Alejandrosdog
    Alejandrosdog Posts: 1,975
    Pross wrote:
    Presumably there will be / have been coroner's inquests so unless they uncovered anything suspicious why should teams be getting a knock on the door? Of course the recent history of the sport means that there will be people asking questions and they might be right to but the most likely reason is that it is simply undiagnosed underlying issues and coincidence.

    There were people asking questions, when they heard cyclists running around the hotel corridors in the middle of night... the easiest explanation was that they did that for training.

    :lol::lol::lol::lol:
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    Probably worth checking if theres something in it still.

    It's not a huge sample population or number of events so any conclusions from 3 events in one place isn't going to be statistically reliable.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,172
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    Probably worth checking if theres something in it still.

    It's not a huge sample population or number of events so any conclusions from 3 events in one place isn't going to be statistically reliable.

    How many cyclists died as a direct result of blood doping?
    left the forum March 2023
  • Alejandrosdog
    Alejandrosdog Posts: 1,975
    errr its cycling, of course its bent
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    Probably worth checking if theres something in it still.

    It's not a huge sample population or number of events so any conclusions from 3 events in one place isn't going to be statistically reliable.

    How many cyclists died as a direct result of blood doping?

    Probably a few, either due to c*cking it up Ricco style or having heart attacks in the middle of the night as alluded to up thread. But the linkage there is very obvious.

    My point was only that with a fairly small population and a tiny number of deaths, it can't be statistically meaningful on its own - you need something else. 3 deaths in a year or so out of a population of what, a few thousand (?) won't stand up to any kind of analysis.

    It's like every year one or two people die during the London Marathon out of the 40,000 participants (and not just the fat old ones), but we aren't worried about them all doping.