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Comment by amenghra | Hacker News Reader

Most athletes who are at the top of their sport when they reach age ~40 tend to be crazy outliers. I’m thinking Michael Schumacher (F1), Tom Brady (NFL), Roger Federer (tennis), etc.

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They are outliers because it's a brand new phenomenon. This generation has the first sportsmen to push 40 in a lot of sports, beit Federer, James Anderson, Brady, Ibrahimovic. It will become quite common as time goes on I expect.

p.s. Schumacher drove a car, so I'm not sure he is a fair comparison to physical sportsmen

F1 drivers are required to be extremely fit. Braking and cornering at over 4G for almost 2 hours, applying well over 300lb pressure to the brake pedal repeatedly, in cockpit temperatures over 110F, would destroy most athletes from other sports.

Please see my reply to your sibling.

> would destroy most athletes from other sports

This is pretty hyperbolic, I wonder if you might like to reconsider it.

It’s not hyperbolic at all. Subject them to the same forces and you’ll see.

It’s not hyperbolic in the slightest. Which other discipline would condition its participants to endure the combination of forces and temperatures over the duration I described above?

Doesn't that prove my point that they are completely different things and not comparable?

If you read my other comment you will see my line of reasoning. At no point have I denigrated racing drivers, so there's no need to rush to their defence.

If that’s your point then yes, fair enough, there is no direct comparison. The way your original P.S. was worded gave the opposite impression though, and “racing drivers aren’t athletes” seems to be a POV many people have.

One of the reasons Schumacher was able to dominate was that he was one of the first F1 drivers to train for it as a physical sport.

Martin Brundle said if he’d realised earlier in his driving career how vital fitness was, he would have achieved much more.

Your postscript is a bit unfair to racing drivers - it's actually an incredibly physically demanding sport.

I never demeaned racing drivers. I just don't think they are a fair comparison to physical sportsmen who turn and jink and sprint in an open physical space and the effect this has on their bodies.

Going past an opposition player in basketball, football or rugby is very similar. Sprinting to the line to keep a ball in play is something tennis players, footballers and cricketers all do.

Driving is entirely different, and not really comparable.

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