A 22-year-old woman presented to the emergency room of a local hospital with pleuritic chest pain. She regularly worked out and admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Clinical findings and further diagnostic work up revealed a diagnosis of perimyocarditis, and adequate therapy was initiated. During the course of the first day, the patient had to be intubated and mechanically ventilated. A diagnosis of bilateral pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to an infection by rhinovirus spp was made. A smoking habit, the intense physical training and the use of PED\'s may have exacerbated the course of the viral pneumonia. After 12 days the patient could be extubated. The length of stay in the intensive care unit was 16 days. After hospital discharge, the patient went to a pulmonary rehabilitation facility for 2 weeks. The outcome was favourable and the patient resumed her strength and endurance training.