How genetics shapes the Olympics Rohini Krishnamurthy | Down to Earth | July 31, 2024

https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2024/07/31/how-genetics-shapes-the-olympics/?mc_cid=8206e3b4b5&mc_eid=b73600b7ac Some athletes have won the genetic lottery, prompting scientists to probe the role of genes in athletic prowess. For example, Eero Antero Mäntyranta, a Finnish skier who participated in four Olympic Games in 1960s and won seven medals, had a red blood count 20 per cent higher than that of other athletes, even though his training regime was not different. In the 1990s, scientists discovered that 50 of 200 members of his family, including the Olympian, carried a rare mutation in a gene that increased the oxygen-carrying capacity of his red blood cells by 25-50 per cent and gave him a performance boost.