the photos make an impression – Corriere.it

The legs are those of Victor Kipruto Togom and Chales Matata, first and second (with times close to 60′ net) of the recent half marathon in Madrid. Thrown on social media, the image of the breadstick calves of the two Kenyans, marked by deep furrows left by the veins, has aroused a great impression among web users.

a pathological situation? consequence of the great effort just made? Or does it depend on other factors? The phenomenon, which is not uncommon even in top cycling, concerns athletes who have very low fat mass from the start: we are talking about 4-5% or less compared to 14-16% or more for a normal person. In subjects who are really skin and bones, an effort such as a half marathon or a stage of a Grand Tour or a prolonged period of very intense training involves blood transport flows of up to 40 litres/minute. The flow can therefore be more than twice as high as that of a person of the same build and leave its marks up to several minutes after the end of the effort, impressively highlighting the venous network. In this way (in the almost total lack of fat mass) the veins literally emerge on the skin with a disturbing effect but which, according to specialists, does not indicate any pathology.