Dutch study find female athletes heart beats to a different drum
Groundbreaking research into changes to the heart of women athletes will set a new standard for female heart healthcare, researchers have said. Until now, changes to the heart as a result of intensive training had only been measured in men. But a large-scale five-year investigation by a team of Amsterdam UMC scientists in collaboration with […]
Groundbreaking research into changes to the heart of women athletes will set a new standard for female heart healthcare, researchers have said.
Until now, changes to the heart as a result of intensive training had only been measured in men. But a large-scale five-year investigation by a team of Amsterdam UMC scientists in collaboration with sports organisation NOC*NSF has now shown that the physical changes are far from the same in women.
Male athletes develop a thicker heart muscle and larger ventricles whereas women show only wider ventricles, the researchers said.
“A woman is not a small version of a man,” sports cardiologist at Amsterdam UMC Harals Jorstad told broadcaster NOS. Jorstad’s study, the first in the world to be carried out in such detail, involved the monitoring of the hearts of over 600 male and female top athletes over a period of five years.
Some 170 women participated, who were all subjected to regular scans, MRI scans, electrocardiograms, and ultrasounds.
The research not only found differences between male and female hearts but also between the effects of different sports on the heart. “Female endurance athletes, such as cyclists, had the largest ventricles and the most heart muscle mass, more than, for instance, gymnasts,” researcher Maarten van Diepens said., “That shows the way the heart adapts, partly as a result of the type of stress,” he said.
Male top athletes are more often in the news because of heart problems than women. “In women, heart problems, like arrhythmia, have never been well researched. We know they are less prevalent among young women and female top athletes. Men are nine times more likely to die during a strenuous activity than women,” Jorstad said.
Gender-specific knowledge is important, particularly now that women are taking great strides. “Women are improving faster in their sport compared to men. Marathon world records are constantly broken, for instance,” Van Diepen said. “More is being asked from the female heart than ever, more than we knew it could cope with. Now, for the first time, we have a modern standard for women,” he said.
Female water polo player Vivian Sevenich, who participated in the study, said she was “surprised’ at the lack of knowledge about the female heart. “It’s a bit disappointing in this day and age,” she said.
Jorstad will continue his research to include an explanation as to why the female heart behaves differently from the male. “Do women train differently? Are hormones a factor? What will happen to their hearts in the years after their career? You want to know if you will pay a price in later life,” he said.
The results of the study will also be used to help women who are not top athletes but who do train intensively. “Thanks to this study, we will be better able to support them and protect them from heart problems,” Jorstad said.
Brice Cox was named assistant speed, strength, and conditioning coach at Coastal Carolina University in 2012. He oversees men’s basketball, men’s and women’s golf, and assists with football. Previously, Cox served as director of athletic performance for men’s and women’s basketball, women’s volleyball and women’s tennis at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La., from 2010 […]
Brice Cox was named assistant speed, strength, and conditioning coach at Coastal Carolina University in 2012. He oversees men’s basketball, men’s and women’s golf, and assists with football.
Previously, Cox served as director of athletic performance for men’s and women’s basketball, women’s volleyball and women’s tennis at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La., from 2010 to 2012. He also spent one year at the University of Arkansas as assistant athletic performance coach for men’s basketball and was responsible for nutrition services and assisting with day-to-day tasks for men’s basketball. He also attended graduate school at the University of Arkansas.
Cox received his bachelor of education degree in 2008 from Culver-Stockton College, where he was a member of the men’s basketball and football teams. With a career cut short due to injury he quickly took on the role as assistant coach for men’s basketball.
Cox holds certifications from the United States Weightlifting, and Cincinnati Sports Medicine Research and Education Foundation and Sportsmetrics in ACL injury prevention. In 2014 he received certification from the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association as a strength and conditioning coach along with certification from the Gray Institute in applied functional science. He is the son of Jamie and Nancy Cox from Bowling Green, Mo., and has two brothers, Justin and Ryan Cox.
Champions League weekend: Győr and Ferencváros claim top honors
Ferencvárosi TC – Men’s Water Polo Champions League Victory 2025. Photo: MTI What a weekend! On Sunday evening, Hungarian fans celebrated two huge successes. Two of our teams won the Champions League, one in the men’s competition and one in the women’s. Győri Audi ETO KC – Women’s Handball Champions League Victory Last night, at […]
Ferencvárosi TC – Men’s Water Polo Champions League Victory 2025. Photo: MTI
What a weekend! On Sunday evening, Hungarian fans celebrated two huge successes. Two of our teams won the Champions League, one in the men’s competition and one in the women’s.
Győri Audi ETO KC – Women’s Handball Champions League Victory
Last night, at the MVM Dome in Budapest, Győri Audi ETO KC defeated the Danish team Odense HB 29–27 in the final of the Women’s Handball Champions League Final Four, winning the most prestigious European club competition for the seventh time. The Győr team led throughout the match and was never behind. In the second half, they secured the victory with tactical defense and crucial saves by goalkeeper Sako. Near the end, an Odense player received a red card, further complicating the Danish side’s situation. This was Győr’s 11th Champions League final and their seventh title, reinforcing their position at the top of European women’s handball.
Győri Audi ETO KC – Women’s Handball Champions League Victory 2025. Photo: MTIGyőri Audi ETO KC – Women’s Handball Champions League Victory 2025. Photo: MTIGyőri Audi ETO KC – Women’s Handball Champions League Victory 2025. Photo: MTIGyőri Audi ETO KC – Women’s Handball Champions League Victory 2025. Photo: MTI
Ferencvárosi TC – Men’s Water Polo Champions League Victory
On the same evening, in the Men’s Water Polo Champions League final, Ferencváros defeated the Serbian team Novi Beograd 13–11, successfully defending their title and becoming three-time Champions League winners. The match was thrilling, with Ferencváros pulling ahead in the third quarter, highlighted by Krisztián Manhercz’s six goals. Novi Beograd tried to come back in the last quarter, but Ferencváros’s defense and goalkeeper Soma Vogel’s outstanding saves ensured the Hungarian team’s victory. This success also marked Ferencváros as the first Hungarian men’s water polo team to defend their Champions League title successfully.
Ferencvárosi TC – Men’s Water Polo Champions League Victory 2025. Photo: MTIFerencvárosi TC – Men’s Water Polo Champions League Victory 2025. Photo: MTI
read also: Fishing season in Hungary kicks off with record-breaking catches
Hundreds rally for high schooler detained by ICE on the way to volleyball practice
MILFORD, Mass. (WBZ) – An 18-year-old high school student, who is undocumented but has lived in Massachusetts since he was 5, was detained by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the way to volleyball practice. Four Milford High School students were on their way to volleyball practice Saturday morning when three unmarked vehicles […]
MILFORD, Mass. (WBZ) – An 18-year-old high school student, who is undocumented but has lived in Massachusetts since he was 5, was detained by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the way to volleyball practice.
Four Milford High School students were on their way to volleyball practice Saturday morning when three unmarked vehicles carrying ICE agents pulled up behind them. At least two of the students in the car were undocumented, including the driver, 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes.
The other undocumented student in the car at the time spoke out about the incident. He asked to remain anonymous. He says that they weren’t doing anything wrong to warrant being pulled over.
“An ICE officer stepped out of his vehicle, knocked on the window and asked what his documentation was,” the student said.
The agents interrogated the car full of students about their documentation before taking Gomes, who is a high school junior, into custody. The other undocumented student says he was not taken into custody by ICE because he is underage.
“That’s kind of when emotion hit, and I started crying… Tears just started coming down my eyes,” the student said.
The student says he is now afraid all his hard work in school and being a good member of the community is in jeopardy.
“I always knew this to be a system that kicks out undocumented people for committing crimes, and now, it’s a system that will just kick you out based on your status,” he said.
Milford Police say they were not informed ICE would by carrying out this operation, and Milford Public Schools Superintendent Kevin McIntyre said the following in a statement:
“The Milford Public Schools play no part in immigration enforcement and support all of our students and families, including those who are immigrants to the United States. They are members of the community, students in our classrooms, athletes that compete representing Milford, musicians, artists, friends, and neighbors.”
Family members say Gomes has lived in the Milford area since he was 5 years old.
“It’s kind of heartbreaking, and Marcelo is such a kind person. He’s the last person that this should be happening to. His siblings are so young, and they’re asking questions like whether they’re ever going to see him again,” said Gomes’ cousin, Ana Julia Araujo.
Araujo says Gomes is currently being held at an ICE detention center in Burlington.
Hundreds rallied Sunday in support of Gomes, including members of Milford High School’s Class of 2025, who marched down the street in their caps and gowns after graduation. Gomes is a member of the school band and was set to play drums at the ceremony.
“Marcelo was a good kid. He was excited for his future. He did absolutely nothing wrong. He was innocently going to a practice, and he was targeted,” said Gomes’ girlfriend, Julianys Rentas.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, also spoke out against Gomes’ detention.
“I’m demanding that ICE provide immediate information about why he [Gomes] was arrested, where he is and how his due process is being protected. My heart goes out to the Milford community on what was supposed to be a celebratory graduation day. The Trump Administration continues to create fear in our communities, and it’s making us all less safe,” said Healey in a statement.
Copyright 2025 WBZ via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
Guide to pools, splash pads & more for summer 2025
The Sawdust City offers plenty of options for a quick splash this summer. Essential water safety tips Learn essential water safety tips to ensure a fun and safe summer for the whole family. Oshkosh offers a variety of ways to cool off during the summer, including the Pollock Community Water Park with its pool and […]
The Sawdust City offers plenty of options for a quick splash this summer.
Essential water safety tips
Learn essential water safety tips to ensure a fun and safe summer for the whole family.
Oshkosh offers a variety of ways to cool off during the summer, including the Pollock Community Water Park with its pool and waterslides.
Residents and visitors can also enjoy the South Park Splash Pad, Menominee Park Beach on Lake Winnebago, and two YMCA aquatic centers.
Nearby, Jefferson Park in Menasha and the Neenah Pool offer additional swimming options, along with a splash pad in Washington Park, Neenah.
OSHKOSH – Swimming holes, pools, beaches, lakes and splash pads.
If you’re trying to beat the heat, Oshkosh has more than enough options.
There’s no need to leave the city to stay cool this summer, as the Sawdust City has everything from water parks to swimming pools and even Lake Winnebago.
Here’s a list of where you can go for a quick splash this summer.
Pollock Community Water Park
Oshkosh’s main water park, Pollock Community Water Park, features a swimming pool, waterslides and a number of other amenities at 1550 Taft Ave.
The park is open June 7 to Aug. 17 with open swim hours of noon to 7 p.m.
Pollock Community Water Park will also play host to Yoga at the Pool June 27, July 11, July 18, Aug. 8, Aug. 15 and Aug. 22.
For more information, including rates and passes, visit https://www.oshkoshwi.gov/parks/PollockCommunityWaterPark/.
Read more: Another 100 Vietnam vets to be honored through Yellow Ribbon Honor Flight at AirVenture
South Park Splash Pad
The Splash Pad at South Park, 1035 W. South Park Ave., is open until Sept. 1 from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The park features a splash pad, fishing opportunities in the lagoons, an inclusive playground, wooded areas, trails, and basketball and tennis courts.
Menominee Park Beach
Located in the southern park of Menominee Park on Pratt Trail, Menominee Park Beach is open for swimming and features numerous benches along with picnic tables.
It is adjacent to Menominee Park Zoo and includes a playground, bathrooms and another amenities.
Lake Winnebago
Oshkosh’s largest inland lake, Lake Winnebago offers countless watersport activities including swimming, boating, kayaking, canoeing and water skiing.
Various launching spots are along the shore and even more opportunities to enjoy the lake.
YMCA aquatic centers
The 3303 W. 20th Ave. and Downtown (324 Washington Ave.) YMCA aquatic centers both offer pools for open swim.
The 20th Avenue YMCA features an eight-lane, 25-yard Kuhn Family Pool and a family fun pool that has a water slide, zero-depth entry, a lazy river current and water-spouting gadgets.
The Downtown YMCAhas a four-lane, 25-yard lap pool as well as a family pool that includes a large lazy river.
Both YMCA locations are equipped with an on-deck sauna, steam room and whirlpool.
Jefferson Park Swimming Pool
Located in Jefferson Park 915 Third Street, Menasha, the outdoor swimming pool is slated to open early June, with daily operating hours of 1-5 p.m. and 6:15 p.m.-7:45 p.m.
Along with the public swimming pool, the park features a waterslide, inflatable toy section, sand volleyball court, sun deck and a heated pool.
Neenah Pool
The Neenah Pool, 600 S. Park Ave., will be open June 7-Aug. 23 this season with open swim hours daily.
The pool is open 1-8 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and 1-6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. It features a number of amenities and activities like heated water, a sand volleyball court, tot sand play area, outdoor ping pong table, tetherball, and changing and locker rooms.
Read more: Top Wisconsin chili chefs to square off in State Chili Cook-Off in Green Lake
Washington Park Splash Pad
The splash pad at 631 W. Winneconne Ave., Neenah, will operate daily 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and remains open until Sept. 1.
It’s free to the public and is activated by running a hand over the top of the fire hydrant. The splash pad runs in four-minute increments and can be reactivated by waving a hand over the sensor.
For more information, visit https://www.ci.neenah.wi.us/departments/parks-recreation/splashpad-washington-park/.
Contact Justin Marville at jmarville@gannett.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @justinmarville.
Meet the wealthiest women changing the game—11 billionaires who control major pro franchises and are collectively worth $85 billion, led by the Mavericks’ Miriam Adelson. Chaos in the public markets over the past year has taken a bite out of Miriam Adelson’s fortune, dropping her net worth 3%. But the 79-year-old widow of former Las […]
Meet the wealthiest women changing the game—11 billionaires who control major pro franchises and are collectively worth $85 billion, led by the Mavericks’ Miriam Adelson.
Chaos in the public markets over the past year has taken a bite out of Miriam Adelson’s fortune, dropping her net worth 3%. But the 79-year-old widow of former Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson can always count on her sports team.
The Dallas Mavericks—the NBA franchise Miriam Adelson bought for $3.5 billion in 2023—are now worth $4.7 billion, according to Forbes estimates. And even in a down year for her Sands stock, Adelson is in no danger of relinquishing her crown as the richest female team owner in sports, with her estimated net worth of $29.4 billion heading up a list of 11 women collectively worth $85 billion.
In fact, Adelson is worth more than the next three women in the ranking combined: Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty co-owner Clara Wu Tsai, who shares an $11.4 billion fortune with her husband, Alibaba cofounder Joe Tsai; Cleveland Browns and Columbus Crew co-owner Dee Haslam, worth $8.5 billion with her husband, former Pilot Flying J CEO Jimmy Haslam; and New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson, worth $7.1 billion.
Among the more than 3,000 billionaires on Forbes’ real-time billionaire ranking, roughly 400 are women. But only 11 are the control owner of a franchise in a major professional sports league. (Minority owners were excluded from this ranking, as were billionaires who are part of a team’s ownership group but don’t actually lead the club, such as New York Yankees co-owners Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal and Jessica Steinbrenner.)
That small pool is growing, however, as increased interest in women’s sports fuels a boom in popularity, sponsor interest and, ultimately, team values, enticing a new class of owner. Health care technology billionaire Michele Kang, No. 11 in the richest female owner ranking at $1.2 billion, says she knew nothing about soccer in 2020 when she first joined the cap table of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Washington Spirit, and now she owns three prominent women’s clubs. Private equity mogul Lauren Leichtman (No. 10, $1.3 billion) followed Kang into NWSL ownership with her purchase of the San Diego Wave last year, and former Utah Jazz owner Gail Miller (No. 8, $4.6 billion) is back in the sports world after completing a $600 million deal in April for the NWSL’s Utah Royals and MLS’s Real Salt Lake.
Of the 11 billionaire women in control of a sports team, seven can attribute their fortunes to inheritance or their spouses while four are self-made. Outside of Adelson and Tennessee Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk, who held steady, all saw their net worths increase year-over-year, with Leichtman and Kang first joining Forbes’ billionaire list this year.
The NFL is the most represented league among the female owners, with four teams. The NBA and the NWSL are close behind with three representatives each, followed by MLS and European women’s soccer with two. England’s Premier League, MLB, the NHL and the WNBA each have one.
Here are the 11 richest female sports team owners, with their net worths estimated as of May 2.
The 79-year-old Adelson’s tenure in charge of the Mavericks has gotten off to a bumpy start after the team, which is led on a day-to-day basis by her son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, traded superstar guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February. Redemption is in the air, however. Despite odds of just 1.8%, the Mavericks won this year’s NBA draft lottery and are now in a position to draft Duke University phenom Cooper Flagg.
The 59-year-old Wu Tsai and her husband, Joe, took control of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center in 2019—the same year they bought the struggling New York Liberty from the Madison Square Garden Company. With Wu Tsai serving on the WNBA’s board of governors, the Liberty have become one of the league’s crown jewels, claiming their first championship in 2024 and recently selling off a minority stake at a reported $450 million valuation.
The 70-year-old Haslam owes her fortune to truck stop chain Pilot Flying J, which her husband’s father founded in 1958 and which was sold to Berkshire Hathaway for $13.6 billion across three deals in 2017, 2023 and 2024. In addition to control stakes in the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and MLS’s Columbus Crew that the Haslams bought in 2012 and 2019, respectively, they picked up a 25% piece of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks from Marc Lasry two years ago.
After New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson died in 2018, his widow, Gayle Benson, inherited the teams, ultimately fending off a multiyear legal challenge from his daughter and grandchildren. With no heirs of her own, the 78-year-old Benson doesn’t plan on keeping her stakes in the family. In 2021, she announced that both franchises would be sold after her death, with the proceeds donated to charities in the New Orleans area.
The 92-year-old Ilitch and her husband, Mike, who died in 2017, started Little Caesars Pizza in 1958 and bought the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings in 1982 for $8 million. In the years since, only the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Edmonton Oilers have won more Stanley Cups than the Red Wings’ four. Mike and Marian Ilitch added MLB’s Detroit Tigers to their empire in 1992, and their son, Chris, leads the day-to-day operations of both franchises today.
The San Francisco 49ers have been in the 74-year-old York’s family for nearly 50 years. Her father, Edward Debartolo Sr., who died in 1994, bought the NFL franchise for $13 million in 1977. York took control from her brother in 2000, and she later tabbed her son, Jed York, as CEO. The family has also expanded its interests to English soccer, using the 49ers’ investment arm to gradually take control of Leeds United, which earned its way back to the Premier League last month.
McNair’s husband, Bob, sold power generator company Cogen Technologies to Enron for $1.5 billion in 1999 and rolled those proceeds into a $700 million expansion fee that brought the NFL’s 32nd franchise to Houston for the 2002 season. When he died in 2018, Janice, now 88, inherited the Texans, and she passed operational control to her son, Cal, six years later.
With her husband, Larry, who died in 2009, Miller turned a single Toyota dealership into the eighth-biggest auto dealer group in the U.S., selling the business to Asbury Automotive for $3.2 billion in 2021. The Millers were also the longtime owners of the Utah Jazz, buying the NBA club in 1986 for $22 million and selling it to Qualtrics billionaire Ryan Smith for $1.66 billion in 2020. This year, Gail Miller, 81, completed a deal to take control of the NWSL’s Utah Royals and MLS’s Real Salt Lake, and she and her family are leading a group of investors aiming to bring an MLB team to Salt Lake City.
Adams Strunk’s father, the legendary Bud Adams, founded the Houston Oilers in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League, a decade before its official merger with the NFL. Adams relocated the franchise to Nashville and rebranded it as the Tennessee Titans in 1997, but his death in 2013 touched off a family legal battle. The 69-year-old Adams Strunk took control two years later and is now building the team a $2.1 billion stadium that is expected to open in 2027, with more than $1.2 billion in public funding.
Leichtman married Arthur Levine in 1984, and five years later, they cofounded Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, a private equity firm that now has $11 billion in assets. She entered the sports business in 2024, buying the NWSL’s San Diego Wave from supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle at a weighted valuation of $113 million. Forbes estimates the Wave are now worth $165 million, and the 75-year-old Leichtman recently brought on former U.S. women’s national team and Wave superstar Alex Morgan as a minority investor in the franchise.
Teams: Washington Spirit, OL Lyonnes, London City Lionesses
Source of Wealth: Health care technology
Kang kicked off the NWSL’s valuation boom when she bought a majority stake in the Washington Spirit in 2022 for $35 million, then considered an astronomical price for a women’s team. Now, the 65-year-old founder and former CEO of health care IT company Cognosante owns two other clubs as well: OL Lyonnes of France’s Première Ligue and the London City Lionesses, recently promoted to England’s Women’s Super League. Her empire may expand again soon, with Kang eyeing a South American club.
METHODOLOGY
For the ranking of the richest female sports owners, Forbes considered control owners of franchises from seven North American sports leagues (MLB, MLS, the NBA, the NFL, the NHL, the NWSL and the WNBA), the “big five” European men’s soccer leagues (England’s Premier League, France’s Ligue 1, Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A and Spain’s La Liga) and the top women’s soccer leagues in the same five European nations (England’s Women’s Super League, France’s Première Ligue, Germany’s Frauen-Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A Femminile and Spain’s Liga F). Minority owners of teams were not included unless they qualified under a control stake with a different franchise.
Net worths are calculated as of May 2, 2025. In the cases of seven members of the list—Miriam Adelson, Clara Wu Tsai, Dee Haslam, Marian Ilitch, Denise York, Janice McNair and Gail Miller, as denoted by an asterisk—the net worth calculation includes family members’ assets. No one-year change is listed for Lauren Leichtman and Michele Kang, who first joined Forbes’ billionaire list this year.
+ Can the Knicks or Pacers take down OKC? | First Take
