Peripheral serum hormone levels during the off season were analysed in 10 male and 10 female athletes, all belonging to the Swedish national teams in skiing and orienteering and in age matched sedentary controls (15 males, 13 females). No clinical signs of overuse strain were observed in any of the athletes. No significant differences in hormone variables were found between male athletes and controls. The female athletes had significantly higher levels of cortisol and significantly lower ratios between total testosterone and cortisol, between non-SHBG-bound testosterone and cortisol and between 4-androstene-3, 17-dione and cortisol than the sedentary controls. The increased levels of cortisol found in the female athletes probably reflect an adaptation to several years of hard training. A decrease of the free T/cortisol ratio has earlier been shown to indicate an overuse distress. One may speculate that the low androgen/cortisol ratios found in the female athletes in contrast to the males could indicate that the female athletes might need longer time to recover from hard exercise than male athletes, or could suggest an insufficient dietary intake.