When it comes to health, Olympic athletes may seem to tower above the rest of us, but this isn’t necessarily  true when it comes to their hearts, a new study finds.

The study, which involved cardiac screening tests performed on young athletes eligible for the summer and winter Olympic games in 2000, revealed that an unexpectedly high percentage of them had potentially fatal cardiovascular problems.

The heart assessments involved 2,354 athletes with an average age of 27 who participated in 46 different sports disciplines.

The screening involved basic cardiac tests; an electrocardiogram (EKG), an exercise stress test, and an echocardiogram.

The study found that a surprising 171 of the athletes (7.3 percent) had heart abnormalities. Six athletes had potentially life-threatening problems.

The heart problems uncovered included cardiomyopathies and coronary heart disease.

The study was presented at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual meeting in Lisbon, and is evidence of the need for cardiac screening in young athletes, said Dr. Paulo Emilio Adami of the Italian Olympic Committee in Rome.