[Contorsionists and athlete at competitive sports events - acquired hypermobility (author's transl)].

The problems of hypermobility are getting more and more important. Whereas at high-performance competitive events extraordinary results are achieved in some disciplines by means of early and extremely intensive training aiming at improved flexibility, professional acrobats are not so much the center of attraction as they used to be. This article reports on the basis of examination of 16 competitive sportswomen on a national level, on extreme forms of mobility and on the clinical and radiological findings in "indiarubber" contorsionists and "Klischnigg" acrobats. It was possible to observe and follow up the progression of the extremely rare case of a spondylolysis the lumbar vertebrae L 31 and L 32 as well as concomitant olisthesis L 3/4 and L 5/S 1, over a period of 25 years.