Published Jun 18, 2026 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 18, 2026 | 7:00 AM
Asian Games gold medallist Jaspal Rana. (X/ RahulGandhi)
Synopsis: The death of shooting legend Jaspal Rana at 49 has reignited questions about whether fitness can create a false sense of security against heart disease. Cardiologists say exercise lowers cardiovascular risk but cannot eliminate genetic, metabolic and vascular factors, while warning that fit individuals may be more likely to dismiss heart attack symptoms.
Jaspal Rana looked like the last person many would associate with a fatal cardiac event.
A former world-class shooter, Asian Games gold medallist, nine-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist and coach to Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker, Rana spent decades at the highest levels of competitive sport. He trained athletes. He travelled to international tournaments. He remained embedded in the physical demands of elite sport well into his forties.
Yet according to the reported sequence of events, Rana appears to have experienced chest discomfort for several days before seeking treatment. He died following a cardiac rupture at the age of 49 on 12 June, 2026, at a hospital in New Delhi, days after returning from the Shooting World Cup in Munich.
His death has reignited a question that surfaces whenever a seemingly healthy athlete, executive or fitness enthusiast suffers a cardiac event: does physical fitness create a false sense of immunity against heart disease?
Three cardiologists say the answer, increasingly, appears to be yes.
Also Read: Sudden cardiac arrests in young fitness enthusiasts spotlight gaps in health screening.
This distinction sits at the centre of what Rana’s death reveals, and it is one that cardiologists say too few people make.
Physical fitness reflects how well a person performs physically, covering stamina, endurance, strength and the ability to sustain exertion over time. Cardiovascular health refers to something different: the condition of the arteries, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, blood sugar and the presence or absence of coronary artery disease. The two frequently overlap, but they are not the same thing, and they do not always move together.
“One may have excellent physical fitness while still harbouring underlying cardiovascular issues,” says Dr Ramneek Mittal, Consultant Cardiologist at Narayana Health City, Bengaluru, to South First.
Dr PRLN Prasad, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Gleneagles BGS Hospitals, Bengaluru, puts it in equally direct terms. “A person can look healthy, maintain excellent fitness levels, and still have significant blockages in the heart arteries,” he says to South First. “Sometimes the disease progresses and can lead to a heart attack even before there are indications of heart disease.”
This is not a rare or unusual finding. Dr Mittal points to a physiological mechanism that makes it particularly difficult to detect in active people. Over time, individuals who exercise regularly can develop collateral circulation, a process by which the body builds alternative blood pathways around narrowing arteries. This allows them to continue training, sometimes at high intensity, even in the presence of serious arterial blockages. The cardiovascular system adapts. The disease, meanwhile, advances.
In those cases, the first visible sign is a heart attack.
Exercise reduces cardiovascular risk. It does not eliminate it.
Both Bengaluru cardiologists stress that while physical activity lowers the probability of heart disease, it cannot override a separate set of factors that operate independently of how often or how hard a person trains.
“Physical activity greatly lowers one’s chance of developing heart problems,” says Dr Mittal. “However, there are many other factors, such as genetic predisposition, high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking, constant stress, and age, which can lead to the formation of plaque in the coronary arteries.”
Dr Prasad lists the same cluster of risks. Family history of early heart disease, high LDL cholesterol, lipoprotein(a), diabetes, hypertension, smoking, abdominal obesity, poor sleep and chronic stress can all persist and continue to drive arterial damage in people who exercise consistently.
“You cannot counteract your genetic predispositions, uncontrolled diabetes, high levels of cholesterol, high blood pressure, or poor lifestyle habits through exercise alone,” says Dr Mittal.
Lipoprotein(a), a genetic variant of LDL cholesterol, deserves particular attention. Unlike standard cholesterol, it does not respond to diet or exercise. It requires specific testing to detect and specific treatment to manage. Many people who exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight and diet figures carry elevated lipoprotein(a) without knowing it.
Both cardiologists recommend regular health check-ups for physically active individuals, not as a precaution for the unfit, but precisely because fitness can mask the presence of risk.
Also Read: Why are more children experiencing sudden heart-related deaths?
The danger, cardiologists say, is that physically active people tend to interpret warning signs through the lens of their own fitness. Chest tightness becomes muscle strain. Breathlessness becomes a sign of overtraining. Fatigue becomes a consequence of a demanding schedule. Symptoms get explained away rather than investigated.
“Many people who exercise regularly believe that due to their fitness level, they cannot develop heart disease,” says Dr Mittal. “Consequently, when they experience symptoms, they may think they have overexerted themselves, have sore muscles, are tired, dehydrated, or experiencing temporary stress.”
Dr Prasad identifies the consequence directly. “People who maintain active lifestyles often believe that they are protected from serious illnesses,” he says. “This false sense of security can lead to a delay in diagnosis and treatment.”
Reports suggest this is precisely what occurred with Rana. He experienced chest discomfort while in Munich for the Shooting World Cup. According to available accounts, he attributed it to gas, indigestion or acidity, and continued with his commitments. The discomfort persisted through his return flight to India. By the time he reached the hospital in Delhi, the damage to his heart had already accumulated over several days.
“It is very common for patients to ignore early warning signs, especially when the symptoms are mild and reduce with rest,” says Dr Prasad. “Many assume the discomfort is simply due to acidity, indigestion, muscle strain or stress. Unfortunately, when warning signs are ignored, they can lead to a heart attack.”
The reduction of symptoms with rest is itself a warning signal, not a reassurance.
Symptoms frequently mistaken for acidity, muscle strain, or exhaustion include:
Each of these, in isolation, can resemble something minor. In a fit, active person who exercises regularly, they almost always get rationalised as something else.
Both cardiologists carry a specific warning about one pattern. Symptoms that appear during physical activity and improve with rest should never be dismissed, regardless of how mild they seem. This pattern can indicate angina, a condition caused by insufficient blood supply reaching the heart muscle through narrowed coronary arteries. It requires prompt medical evaluation.
“Any discomfort which occurs in the jaw, neck, shoulders, or arm needs serious attention,” says Dr Mittal. “Any symptom which is new, recurrent, or exercise-induced must be referred immediately to a doctor.”
Also Read: Can symptoms of cardiac arrest be gender-specific? A study looks to find out.
When Rana reached the hospital in Delhi, doctors found that he had already suffered a heart attack. The Left Anterior Descending artery, one of the heart’s most critical vessels, was completely blocked. His heart’s pumping function had deteriorated significantly. Doctors performed an angioplasty and placed a stent. His condition initially stabilised, and his family held hope for recovery.
Then came the cardiac rupture.
Dr MSS Mukharjee, Senior Interventional Cardiologist and Managing Director of Pulse Heart Super Speciality Hospital, Hyderabad, explains what this complication involves. During a large heart attack, the heart muscle loses blood supply and sections begin to die. In rare but serious cases, a weakened section of the heart wall tears. This is cardiac rupture, and once it occurs, it carries a very high risk of death.
But Dr Mukharjee locates the central lesson not in the rupture, but in the days that preceded it.
“Time is muscle,” he says.
The principle is straightforward. During a heart attack, every hour without treatment means more muscle dies. Consider a field of crops fed by a canal. The canal blocks completely. If it reopens within hours, most of the crop survives. If it remains blocked for two or three days and then reopens, water flows again, but the dried crop cannot fully recover. The damage is permanent.
“We can reopen the artery,” says Dr Mukharjee, “but after prolonged loss of blood supply, we cannot completely revive heart muscle that has already died.”
This is why survival and recovery are not the same outcome. Even patients who survive a delayed heart attack without developing rupture can carry permanent consequences. Heart failure, persistent breathlessness, inability to climb stairs, reduced exercise capacity, repeated hospital admissions, kidney complications and, in some cases, sudden cardiac arrest can follow patients for years after the event.
“The goal in treating a heart attack is not merely to save a life,” says Dr Mukharjee. “It is to save the heart.”
A stent placed promptly can save both. A stent placed after days of delay saves a life, but cannot restore what the heart has already lost.
Rana’s death does not diminish the value of exercise. All three cardiologists hold the same position: regular physical activity ranks among the most effective protections a person can maintain against cardiovascular disease. It controls blood pressure, blood sugar and weight. It reduces inflammation. It strengthens the heart muscle itself.
What his death challenges is the belief that fitness alone is enough.
A person can train consistently, maintain a healthy weight, eat well and still carry arterial blockages, elevated lipoprotein(a) or genetic risk factors that exercise cannot reach. These risks remain invisible until symptoms appear. And when symptoms appear in a fit person, they carry a particular danger: they get dismissed.
Any new chest discomfort, unexplained breathlessness, unusual fatigue, dizziness or pain travelling to the jaw, neck, shoulder or arm deserves medical attention. Age, fitness level and athletic background do not change that. Neither does a clean bill of health from a decade ago.
The lesson Rana’s death carries is not that exercise fails. It is that fitness should never be mistaken for immunity, and that a symptom dismissed is an opportunity lost. In a heart attack, that window closes faster than most people expect.
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
