Provide names of other journalists involved.
Nancy Perry Graham, Editor and Vice President Ken Budd, Executive Editor
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
March/April 2011 issue
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
“Super Athletes” tells the story behind the growing numbers of masters athletes (those age 35-plus) who are competing at an exceptionally high level, often beating out competitors half their age. It talks about what happens to muscles, cell mitochondria, and lung capacity as we age; examines new research into whether the decline in athletic ability as we get older is due to age or some other factor; and answers these questions: Are high-performing older athletes physiological freaks? Or can anyone become an uber-athlete, at any age?
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
The story quotes numerous studies from peer-reviewed medical journals, including Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the Journal of Physiology, and others. We also included statistics on older athletes and the aging body. FOI and public records requests were not required.
Explain types of human sources used.
We interviewed a number of expert sources, including the Mayo Clinic’s Michael Joyner, M.D., and Hirofumi Tanaka, Ph.D., director of the Cardiovascular Aging Research Laboratory at the University of Texas, both of whom have studied masters athletes extensively. We also interviewed a number of well-known older athletes, among them tennis doubles champion Martina Navratilova, 54, marathoner Colleen de Reuck, 42, and French cycling champion Jeannie DeLongo, 49. Finally, we interviewed male and female age-group champions in other sports, from 80-year-old masters swimmer Joan Campbell to 63-year-old tennis player Brian Cheney.
Results:
We received a good deal of feedback from readers, who were inspired by our story to pursue sports that they had thought they were “too old” to play.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No corrections or clarifications were necessary.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Gabrielle Redford’s advice to other journalists: “This is an ongoing story. Older athletes continue to push the limits of aging and exercise. It is extraordinarily gratifying to be able to say to them: There are no limits. Or, perhaps more accurately, there are some limits, but you can stave off aging with exercise, and you can accomplish far more in your athletic endeavors at 40 and beyond than you ever thought possible.”