Tragic accidents, premature deaths and serious injuries permeate sports history - Will Smith's new film "Concussion " is just the latest look at the dangers to life and limb for so many athletes. However, while many athletes' careers are cut short or their lives radically changed by misfortune or injury, there are also athletes who are brutally murdered in their prime to the point where they remain haunted years or even decades after their death. An unforgettable tragic figure. Just last year we saw the deaths of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes, skydiver Dean Porter and Indy car driver Justin Wilson, all of whom died while competing in their chosen sport. On the list of all-time greats, there are many whose endings were far less befitting than a standing ovation and a quiet retirement.
But playing injuries aren’t the only culprit. Some of the saddest stories in sports history have nothing to do with what happened on the grass, field or field. Why are these stories so memorable for us? Is it the poignancy of knowing that our sports heroes are ultimately fragile and human? Whatever the reasons behind our fascination, stories of tragic deaths in sports stick in our minds. Here are nine we'll never forget.
1. Length deviation
ESPN called the 1986 death of 22-year-old NBA star Len Bias "the day innocence died." Basketball legend Larry Bird described it as "one of the cruelest things I've ever heard." Bias was a college basketball star who had just been drafted second overall by the Boston Celtics, but he died two days later of a cocaine overdose in his dorm room at the University of Maryland. Surprisingly, the friend who called 911, Brian Tribble, was later convicted of being a major drug dealer and sentenced to ten years in prison.
2. Lawrence and Maribel Owen
The deaths of Laurence and Maribel Owen and their mother, also named Maribel, are both shocking and sad. The Erwin sisters were seen as the bright new future of American figure skating in the 1960s, with dominant champion Lawrence competing in the 1960 Winter Olympics. She appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1961, but two days after the magazine was published, she, her sister and her mother (who also coached the women's team) died on a plane en route to the 1961 World Championships Wrecked.
3. Ernie Davis
Unlike many sports tragedies, Ernie Davis' death was not because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time or because he exceeded his physical limits. Davis, the first African-American sports player to win the Heisman Trophy, was at the peak of his career in 1961 when he was poached by the Cleveland Browns right out of college. However, at the age of 23, he was diagnosed with leukemia, his condition rapidly deteriorated, and he died in May 1962. After his death, the Browns permanently retired his No. 45 jersey.
4. Curt Hennig
Curt Hennig, known as "Mr. Perfect," is one of the most dominant figures in American wrestling history and a four-time world champion. Throughout the '90s, he battled Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and other stars of the WWE pantheon. However, in 2003, as he struggled to win another world title, he took a toxic cocktail of steroids, painkillers and cocaine and was found dead in a Florida hotel room at the age of 44.
5. Flo Hyman
Flo Hyman is occasionally used as an example of the problem of undiagnosed heart disease among athletes, which has resulted in countless deaths over the years. Hyman was a professional volleyball player who won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympics. In 1986, she suddenly collapsed and died on the court while playing for the Japanese team. A series of autopsies later revealed that the 31-year-old actually suffered from Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder that has serious consequences for the heart valves and aorta. One of the symptoms of Marfan syndrome is abnormal height. Hyman is 6 feet 5 inches tall.
6. Eric Show
The tragedy of baseball player Eric Shaw was not that his career was cut short at the peak of his career, but that a talented athlete was unable to overcome his drug addiction. Shaw's now most famous pitch was the one he hit off Peter Rose in 1985, giving him his then-record 4,192th career hit. What a devastating show. After a series of injuries and adverse events, Show became addicted to amphetamines, methamphetamine, and eventually cocaine. The 37-year-old died from an overdose of cocaine and morphine while in rehab.
7. Larry Chappelle
Baseball player Larry Chappell was a player for the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, and Boston Braves in the 1890s. Like many other athletes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, his career was cut short by World War I and preventable illness. He died of the Spanish flu in 1918 while fighting in France.
8. Lillian Board
Sprinter Lllian Board is one of the most promising track and field athletes in British history and was completely dominant during her brief championship career. She won numerous medals in the 400m and 800m events - a silver at the 1968 Olympics and two golds at the 1969 World Championships - and was a favorite to win gold at the next Olympics. Considering she was 19 when she won the silver medal, that seemed like a reasonable hope.
But Board was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 1970, and despite attempts at a cure using alternative medicine - including a hospital stay with Dr. Josef Issels, who promoted "clean living" and lots of vegetables as a treatment for cancer, she died 12 Month, 22 years old.
9. Lou Gehrig
People know Lou Gehrig in one of two ways. They were either baseball fans in awe of his hitting prowess — he played in a record-breaking 2,130 consecutive games — or they knew about the disease that now bears his name, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease. Grigg was one of the baseball heroes of the 1930s and became one of the most famous Yankees players in history. However, on July 4, 1939, before a packed stadium, he delivered baseball's most famous speech: the "Luckiest Man Alive" speech and announced his retirement. He had been diagnosed with ALS two weeks earlier and died of motor neurone disease in 1941.
Image: Wikimedia Commons (4)
