How elite sport affects athletes

From swollen ankles and veiny legs to deformed toes, British newspaper Sportmail lists the athletes most affected by competing at the top.

Cristiano Ronaldo's feet

Ronaldo caused a stir on social media when he posted a photo of himself resting after scoring the only goal in Al Nassr’s victory over Al Ahli in the Saudi Pro League on March 16. The 39-year-old striker posted a photo of himself wearing Erakulis pants designed to speed up recovery after matches, at the nearly $900-a-night St Regis hotel in Saudi Arabia, with swollen feet.

"Look at the legs of a professional player for 22 years. He must wake up in crazy pain every day," one person wrote on social network X. "The price that football players pay that we cannot see," another commented.

Ronaldo's swollen feet. Photo: Instagram / Cristiano Ronaldo — Ronaldo's swollen feet. Photo: *Instagram / Cristiano Ronaldo*

After 22 years, Ronaldo has played 1,228 games for club and country, getting fouled, kicked, and stomped on week after week. Although Ronaldo’s ankle is not visible, there is a condition called “Footballer’s Ankle.” Repeated kicking, twisting, and bending can strain and stretch the ligaments, causing them to swell, thicken, or become inflamed.

Pawel Poljanski's legs

Poljanski may not be a household name, but you'd be hard-pressed to forget the legs of the Polish former professional cyclist. Poljanski, 33, rode for Tinkoff and Bora-Hansgrohe from 2014 to 2020 across multiple Grand Tours, including two Tour de France appearances.

In 2017, after completing stage 16, he posted a photo of his legs, which were full of blood vessels, with prominent veins and the area around his knees looking almost “rusty.” He wrote on Instagram : “After 16 stages, I think my legs look a little tired.”

Dr Bradley Launikonis from the University of Queensland's School of Biomedical Sciences explained the haunting image. "After Poljanski competes, the veins are bulging. The blood flow is highly regulated through the arteries," he said. "The blood can pool there and that's what's happening in this extreme case. There's blood in the veins and that's why you see them so clearly. There's a high volume of blood being pushed into his legs over a long period of time and it's still there after training and competition."

Launikonis says this doesn’t happen to amateurs, but rather to elite athletes, especially those who compete in major events. Launikonis adds that elite cyclists get twice the blood flow to their legs as amateurs.

“The normal blood flow to our legs is 5 liters per minute,” he said. “For non-elite athletes, the maximum exercise will be 20 liters per minute. Elite athletes will have double that, about 40 liters per minute. Blood can also pool there, and that’s what’s happening in this particular case.”

Before Pojkanski, Chris Froome and Bartosz Huzarski were pictured with deformed legs after a race in 2014.

LeBron James's Toes

LeBron, now 39, the Los Angeles Lakers icon, has spent years training to become an NBA legend. But it seems his legs paid a heavy price in the process of reaching that status.

A photo taken of LeBron on vacation in 2013 shows the American basketball star's toes incredibly deformed and bunched together. LeBron's big toe can be seen fused to his second and smallest toes almost horizontally across his foot.

Last year, a podiatrist told British newspaper Sunsport that LeBron could spend up to $7,000 a month to keep his feet in good condition, including foot care, orthotics and custom sneakers.

"LeBron also has a complicated left foot that required surgery to remove calluses and prevent ulcers. Now there's rehabilitation for his right foot. That's a huge bill, up to $85,000 a year," the doctor revealed.

Adam Lallana's toes

Lallana, who plays for Brighton, is also familiar with injuries. The 35-year-old midfielder has struggled with persistent problems over the years.

Hamstrings, groins and knees are some of the worst offenders, but what about toes? After Liverpool beat Southampton in 2018, the England midfielder posted a picture of his toes, which had turned an unimaginable yellow-white colour. "Any suggestions on how to defrost your feet?" he wrote on Instagram .

Many users believe Lallana is suffering from "Raynaud's phenomenon" - a condition that causes blood flow to the toes or fingers to stop.

Podiatrist Dr Judith Anders writes: "From the photo, the symptoms appear similar to Raynaud's disease - an abnormal response to cold that causes the toes to change colour. In simple terms, the presence of Raynaud's means that the nerves supplying blood vessels become oversensitive to temperature. There may also be an emotional element. If a person is exposed to cold but is also quite stressed, this combination can exacerbate the problem, causing numb and cold fingers and toes."

The doctor continued: "Blood flow is effectively stopped, resulting in a temporary loss of circulation to the affected area. Then, as the blood vessels dilate and blood begins to flow again, the fingers may change color, first turning blue and then bright red."

Neymar's ankle

Neymar's ankle was swollen shortly after the opening group stage match against Serbia at the 2022 World Cup. The Brazilian striker posted a picture with his ankle in need of protection and wrote: "Let's go".

Neymar returned in time after the group stage, but could not help Brazil advance further. He opened the scoring in the first extra time of the quarter-final match against Croatia, but the "Selecao" lost 2-4 on penalties.

Darrell Armstrong's feet

Armstrong played 891 NBA games and is currently an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks. In 2017, Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki shared a photo of Armstrong's feet on Twitter that left fans obsessed. "Armstrong working on these dinosaur toes," Nowitzki wrote.

Armstrong's foot with a deviated big toe.

Armstrong’s big toe curled inward while his second toe moved up over the other four. Basketball players often have problems with overlapping toes and wider feet. With the amount of movement, jumping, and landing they do, they are under a lot of pressure.

Hong Duy

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