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Objectives Reports of Ischaemic Heart Disease (IHD) in athletes who have retired from sports have increased over the past few years. To date there are few available data on how stable angina (SA) progresses in this special population, and little is known about the impact prior physical activity has on the treatment of stable angina. The goal of our study was to investigate the influence of previous regular sports activities on the rehabilitation outcomes in patients with SA. Methods 64 patients: 28 females and 36 males, mean age – 61,2 ± 4,1 with SA (classes II-III) were divided into two groups: G1 – former elite athletes (n = 32) who have a history of practicing endurance sports 8 years and longer; G2 – sedentary people (n = 32). Patients in G1, once retired, had a similar to the sedentary group level of physical activity. Patients of both groups developed SA at similar ages, had comparable duration of the disease, and similar echocardiography parameters at the beginning of the study. Both groups were provided with the same standard rehabilitation program. Patients were followed prospectively over a 6-month period. The number of hospital admissions (HA) and the number of myocardial infarction (MI) were recorded. The treadmill ergospirometry test (MOD Bruce protocol) was performed at baseline and after 6 months. We performed a regression analysis between an increase in physical work capacity (PWC) and age, duration of SA, baseline PWC (in both groups) and, additionally, in G1, between increase in PWC and the age at the beginning of sports career, duration of sports career, and time after retirement. Results After 6 months the improvements in PWC were +23 ± 8,6 W in G1, and +14 ± 2,5 W in G2. Clinical outcomes in G1: HA – 1 (hypertensive crisis); G2 – HA – 3 incl. 2 with MI. There were no significant correlations between age, duration of SA, baseline PWC and increase in PWC in either group. In G1 there were strong negative correlation (r = − 0.66) between age at the beginning, very weak negative correlation (r = − 0.12) between time after finishing and increase in PWC. Very strong positive correlation (r = 0.88) between duration of sports career and increase in PWC was found (Figure 1). Conclusions Retired elite athletes with SA had better clinical outcomes under similar treatment after 6 months rather than sedentary individual. The changes in PWC in former elite athletes, who practice sports for 10 years or more, were more pronounced compared to sedentary patients or those who practiced for less than 10 years. During our study we noticed better compliance and adherence to treatment in the athlete group. The obtained results show that a history of regular sports activities has beneficial effect on compensatory abilities of the cardiovascular system in patients with IHD, even after a significant break in training (20 years and more) and a lack of regular physical activity post retirement. Further studies are needed to clarify what causes the improvement in PWC in retired athletes with SA: are they related to the heart changes, e.g. better microcirculation as a result of activation of previously developed collaterals, more efficient heart metabolism, or is it due to better compliance?

Objectives Elbow angle (EA) measurement is one of the major procedures in International Paralympic Committee Para Powerlifting (IPC PO) classification. There is a general historic consensus around the relative mechanical instability of the elbow joint associated to the 20° deficit of extension. Therefore in IPC PO athletes with such deficiency were classed as non-eligible to compete for safety reasons. However there is lack of evidence-based approach on measuring EA in sport specific setting. Methods EA in 60 healthy sedentary individuals aged 19-75 with visually flat arms and no extension deficit at the elbow joints was measured twice: between three bone landmarks (3LM): (1) top of the acromion, (2) lateral epicondyle of the humerus, (3) radial styloid process, and along the bone axes (ABA) with clinical goniometers. Measurements were done between 9 and 11 am, and patients were asked to avoid any physical activity prior to the investigation. EA in 11 patients were also measured with X-Rays goniometry. Results The study has shown that in a person with a visually flat arm (estimated elbow angle 0°) the angle measured with the 3LM method was 10.42° +/0.49° (p Coclusions We presume the EA in a healthy sedentary person with a visually flat arm to be 0° (180°). However, the evidence shows that measured by different methods it could be either 2° (ABA) or 11° (3LM). This shows a need to be explicit and consistent about exactly what is meant by the elbow angle. We suggest that a true elbow angle (TEA), which can be defined as an angle between the axis of the humerus and the axis of the radial bone should be distinguished from an arm curve angle (ACA), which is an angle between three abovementioned landmarks. So the reasonable approach to measure the TEA would be to use the 3LM method to carry out the measurement and find the ACA, and then deduct 11°. However one of the possible limitations for extrapolation of these findings are athletes with achondroplasia. They have severe deformities in the skeleton, thus the acromion cannot be used as a reference point when measuring the TEA or another formula should be applied. Further investigations are needed to define the difference between the ACA and the TEA in this special population. Our findings could be used in the sports specific classification in Paralympic sports for precise measurements of the EA. They also give a better understanding of difference between the TEA and the ACA, which might be useful in medical rehabilitation of patients with musculoskeletal problems and physiotherapy. By the recent decision of IPC PO Sports Technical Committee extension deficit of 20° in elbow joint was excluded from eligibility criteria. Acknowledgments We would like to thank Dr. Evgeny Shuporin, for his help in conducting the current research and the group of IPC Powerlifting Technical and Classification experts: Derek Groves, Lt Cdr Kadir, Dr. Bassam Qasrawi, Jorge Moreno, Sam Munkley, and others for their support in this work.

Objectives Paralympic Judo is a combat sport for athletes with visual impairments. It became an official Paralympic discipline in 1988 for men, and in 2004 for women. Following IBSA rules the classification panel groups athletes into three classes according their vision ability: B3 – moderate vision loss, B2 – severe vision loss, and B1 – totally blind athletes. Athletes in Para judo with different degree of vision impairment compete against each other in different weight categories. Many athletes, coaches and officials argued that this fact can influence the outcome of a fight, and that B1 athletes have less chances of winning against B2 or B3 athletes. That may lead to a situation where B1 athletes have fewer chance of being selected for the National Team and therefore will no longer stay in the sport. The goal of this study was to validate the above mentioned assumptions and to determine the win:lose ratios in fights between athletes of different classes, and also to analyse the number of athletes in different classes. Methods We analysed the outcomes of 1,640 official fights across a total of 8 major international Para judo competitions for the period of 2007–2015. The results were obtained from the IBSA website. The win:lose ratio in fights B1 against B2, B1 against B3, B2 against B3 in both male and female athletes in all weight categories was analysed. We calculated the percentage of competing athletes of different classes through all weight categories. Results B1 won B2 ratio was 36.1%, B1 won B3 ratio was 31.4%, whereas the B2 won B3 ratio = 50.4%, and B3 won B2 ratio = 49.6%. The number of B1 athletes decreased by 7% over this period: 26% in 2007 and 19% in 2015, the number of B2 athletes increased by 6%: 43% in 2007 and 49% in 2015, the number of B3 athletes did not changed significantly: 31% in 2007 and 32% in 2015 (Figure 1). Conclusions The results indicate a significant correlation between the level of vision function and the fight outcomes: totally blind athletes have fewer chances of winning against athletes with some retained vision. It might be due to the fact that athletes’ performance is significantly determined by vision impairment. Vision has a great impact on the functional capabilities of the athlete, such as the ability to train and to operate an effective daily routine. Athletes with partial vision loss of a different degree (B2 and B3) have comparable chances of winning each fight. Our study demonstrated that the total number of competing judo athletes increased over recent years, but the number of totally blind (B1) athletes is decreasing. That may be because of the reduced opportunities to win fights against B2 or B3 class athletes. Taken together this data highlights the importance of including functional assessment tests during classification in IBSA Judo. Therefore modification and improvement of classification procedures and/or technical rules of IBSA judo will ensure fair competitions for all athletes. Further research of sport specific parameters such as coordination, posture stability etc., and assessment of the impact of vision loss on the training and daily activity of the athletes is necessary for the development of a sport specific evidence based classification tests in IBSA judo.