Paolo Gava, a professional engineer, who has become a Master athlete, an amateur scientist and a lifelong friend

Paolo Gava, (Conegliano, Treviso, September 1, 1946 – Stra, Venezia, Italy, July 19, 2021) was a sustainable resources engineer, who worked in Italy, France and England, leading research programs well before the current international interest in countering global warming. Passionate about Tango, Paolo kept himself in shape for many decades by running or pedaling or roller-skating, after years of training as a semi-professional athlete, competing and winning Italian and European short distance races in the Master classes. Then, Paolo applied his engineering skills to optimize comparisons between the results of the different Classes of Master Athletes, questioning the rules used by Italian and World Master Sports Associations. Friendly discussing during an after-dinner, he shocked us claiming that, in absence of diseases and trauma (Early Aging), the aging decay is a linear process from 30 to 110 years. Under our friendly pressure he was able to publish his first biomedical article, detailing his mathematical approaches and results in a 2015 issue of Experimental Aging Research, titled: Age-associated power decline from running, jumping and throwing male master world records. To honor his other legacies during his last six years of life, we add here further examples of Paolo's scientific studies and his relationships with senior colleagues and young students of sports and aging sciences.

Impact of oral health on physical fitness for the master category

Objective: To carry out a literature review on the influence of oral health status on the physical fitness of individuals over 40 years old and to discuss its importance for good sports development. Methods: A literature review was carried out in the Medline database via Pubmed, considering the articles published from the year 2000 onward. The search was carried out using combinations of terms in English: tooth loss, oral health, fitness physics, master athlete, elderly, athlete. Articles that did not address the proposed theme, that evaluating other populations or dependent elderly people, institutionalized or bedridden, that had no relationship with aspects between oral health and physical fitness, review studies and case reports were excluded. At the end, 20 studies were selected. Results: It was possible to observe an interesting association between different oral health conditions and characteristics of physical fitness, in subjects over 40 years old. The variables corresponding to oral health included tooth loss, occlusal aspects, prosthetic rehabilitation and oral infectious and inflammatory diseases. The analyzed variables associated with physical fitness included the strength and power of lower limbs, static balance, walking speed and handgrip strength. Conclusion: The impact of oral health can have a negative influence in the physical fitness, especially on athletes of the master categories, as they are subjected to a situation conditioned by the effects of aging. Oral health care strategies are important tools to assist in maintaining sports performance.Keywords: physical functional performance, preventive dentistry, physical education and training.

The Physiological Characteristics of an 83-Year-Old Champion Female Master Runner

Purpose: To examine the cardiorespiratory, muscular, and skeletal characteristics of an 83-year-old champion female master athlete (called DL in this study) who had set multiple world running records in the 80-to-84-year-old age group. Methods: Measures of maximal oxygen uptake, maximal heart rate, maximal isometric torque for knee extensor muscles, thigh and triceps surae muscle volumes, and bone mineral density (BMD) of the proximal femur region were evaluated. Based on previously published equations, physiological age was determined for maximal oxygen uptake, maximal heart rate, and maximal isometric torque. Muscle volumes for the dominant leg were compared with previously published sex- and age-matched data using z scores. For BMD, T score and z score were calculated. Results: DL had the highest maximal oxygen uptake (42.3 mL·min−1·kg−1) ever observed for a female older than 80 years of age, which gave her a remarkable physiological age (27 y). By contrast, she had a physiological age closer to her biological age for maximal isometric torque (90 y) and maximal heart rate (74 y). The z scores for thigh (0.4) and triceps surae (1.1) muscle volumes revealed that DL’s leg muscles were affected almost as much as her sex- and age-matched peers. The T score (−1.7) for BMD showed that DL had osteopenia but no osteoporosis, and the z score (0.7) showed that DL’s BMD was similar to that of females of the same age. Conclusion: This single case study shows that the remarkable cardiorespiratory fitness coupled with intensive endurance training observed in a female master athlete was not associated with specific preservation of her muscular and skeletal characteristics.

Retraining and Nutritional Strategy of an Elite Master Athlete Following Hip Arthroplasty: A Case Study

The purpose of this case study was to evaluate the benefits that evidence-based nutritional and training recommendations could have on the time course of reconditioning following hip arthroplasty in a competitive master triathlete. Methods: During 38 weeks (from 6 weeks prior to surgery through to the return to competition), the athlete was provided with detailed training and nutritional recommendations based on the latest research evidence. Dietary intake (via the remote food photographic method), body composition (via DXA), peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak), peak power output (PPO) and cycling efficiency (GE) were assessed 6 weeks pre- and 8, 12, 18, 21 and 25-weeks post-surgery. Training load was quantified (TRIMP score) daily during the retraining. Results: Total body mass increased by 8.2 kg (attributable to a 3.5 and 4.6 kg increase in fat mass and lean mass, respectively) between week -6 and week 8 despite a reduction in carbohydrate (CHO) intake post-surgery (<3.0g/kg/day). This was accompanied with a decrease in VO2peak, PPO, and GE due to a drop in training load. From week 7, the athlete resumed training and was advised to gradually increase CHO intake according to the demands of training. Conclusions: Eventually the athlete was able to return to competition in week 32 with a higher PPO, improved VO2peak and GE. Throughout retraining, energy availability was maintained around 30 kcal/kg LBM/day, protein intake was high while CHO intake was periodised. Such dietary conditions allowed the athlete to maintain and even increase lean mass, which represents a major challenge with ageing.