Conclusions
Among patients with a history of stroke, those with high physical activity and a healthy lifestyle have a lower incidence of all‐cause death but a similar incidence of recurrent stroke. The skiers had a higher frequency of atrial fibrillation, but despite this they seemed to suffer less severe stroke and had no increased risk of recurrent stroke. Our data suggest that a lifestyle with a higher level of physical activity may work as a protection against recurrent cardiovascular events and death, and may reduce the severity of such events. The underlying mechanisms of these observations remain to be established.