Anyway, I had been researching Exercise Induced Asthma while waiting for this 600 page report to download for work. I found this which is kinda cool:
Asthma and the Olympics
According to a recent study, at least one in six athletes representing the United States in the 1996 Olympic Games had a history of asthma. Although 4-7% of the general population is reported to have asthma, the number of Olympic athletes who reported asthma was considerably higher. Out of 699 athletes, 117 (16.7%) were found to have a history of asthma, or to have used asthma medications, or both. Seventy-three (10.4%) of the athletes had active asthma, based on their need for asthma medication at the time of the games, or their need for medication on a permanent or semi-permanent basis. Among the Olympic athletes, asthma was most common among cyclists and mountain bikers and least common in athletes competing in badminton, beach volleyball, table tennis and volleyball. Interestingly, nearly 30% of the 1996 U.S. Olympians who had asthma or took asthma medications won team or individual medals in their Olympic competition, faring as well as athletes without asthma (28.7%) who earned team or individual medals.
Source: http://www.aaaai.org/patients/publicedm ... asthma.stm
