top 5 High-Profile Deaths in Sport

5 High-Profile Deaths in Sport

There are many sports where you almost expect fatalities, even with modern advances in technology, which tend to provide greater safety for competitors, especially at the highest levels. These so-called dangerous sports such as motor racing, are watched by as many who love the thrill of watching those who are prepared to live on the edge, as those who simply enjoy seeing the best in the business compete.

As obviously dangerous as sports such as motor racing are, where deaths are not a massive surprise, there are many safety precautions in place, particularly so as time continues and money helps these sports to develop, there are also many sports where the dangers are not so obvious. Injuries are a common part of contact sport such as rugby union, American football or Australian football, but deaths are very rare. Even rarer, are deaths which occur in non-contact sports. With one such tragic event occurring recently involving the sad passing of Australian cricketer Phil Hughes, let’s have a look at some of the most high-profile deaths in professional sport; those which have had a dramatic effect, not only the lives of that person’s family and friends, but also on the community as a whole.

Different sports are popular in different parts of the world however, what remains a constant from place to place, is the fact that many people feel an admiration or even affiliation with certain high-profile athletes, whose careers they have followed in the media, and developed some sort of emotional attachment. So it only makes sense that we mourn those people along with their family and friends.

4 Ayrton Senna

Aytron Senna was a Brazilian, three-time Formula One World Champion who died on 1st of May 1994, after the car he was driving crashed into a concrete barrier was he was leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy. The previous day, Roland Ratzenberger had died too when his car crashed during qualifying events for the following day’s race. These two accidents were said to be the worst of several accidents that occurred over the course of that weekend, and were the first fatal accidents to occur during a Formula One race in twelve years. Senna’s death, along with that of Ratzenberger, became a turning point where the safety of Formula One drivers is concerned. The deaths prompted the implementation of new and improved safety measures, and also the reformation of the Grand Prix Driver’s Association; the trade union of Formula One drivers.

Whilst these measures seem to have solved most of the safety issues that they set out to address, given that Senna remains the last Formula One driver to pass away during a race meeting, there have still been accidents. Three of these accidents have unfortunately taken the lives of trackside marshals. In addition to this, thirty-three year old Spanish driver María de Villota passed away suffering a cardiac arrest, believed to have been the result of complication stemming from an accident she had during straight-line testing as the Marussia Formula One team test driver.

Following Ayrton Senna’s tragic death, his countrymen were devastated. In Brazil, were Senna was something of a national hero and of course, a major celebrity, many people suffered emotionally following the news of his passing. The country’s television networks gave immediate airtime to coverage, interrupting their normal programming schedules to announce Senna’s death and replay his last interview, given to the media on the day before the accident. Many fans and members of the public gathered outside the Maggiore Hospital to pay their respects to Senna, causing major traffic congestion. Fans also gathered in the Williams F1 factory in Didcot where about two hundred people showed up and laid flowers on the front gates of the factory.

Not long prior to his death, Ayrto nhad told his sister of his ambition to establish a charitable organisation which stemmed his desire to contribute to those less fortunate in an organised and effective way. And so after his death, Senna’s sister, Viviane Senna, set up the IAS in his honour. This organisation has managed to invest nearly US$80 million over the last twelve years in endeavours as broad as social programs with schools, government, NGOs, as well as in the private sector, aiming to offer children from low-income backgrounds the skills and opportunities needed to realise full potential.

Ayrton Senna was among the successful Formula One drivers of the modern era and is considered by observers and fans as one of the greatest drivers in the history of motor sport. His story was told with an acclaimed documentary, Senna, released in 2010.

Aytron Senna was a Brazilian, three-time Formula One World Champion who died on 1st of May 1994, after the car he was driving crashed into a concrete barrier was he was leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy. The previous day, Roland Ratzenberger had died too when his car crashed during qualifying events for the following day’s race. These two accidents were said to be the worst of several accidents that occurred over the course of that weekend, and were the first fatal accidents to occur during a Formula One race in twelve years. Senna’s death, along with that of Ratzenberger, became a turning point where the safety of Formula One drivers is concerned. The deaths prompted the implementation of new and improved safety measures, and also the reformation of the Grand Prix Driver’s Association; the trade union of Formula One drivers.

Whilst these measures seem to have solved most of the safety issues that they set out to address, given that Senna remains the last Formula One driver to pass away during a race meeting, there have still been accidents. Three of these accidents have unfortunately taken the lives of trackside marshals. In addition to this, thirty-three year old Spanish driver María de Villota passed away suffering a cardiac arrest, believed to have been the result of complication stemming from an accident she had during straight-line testing as the Marussia Formula One team test driver.

Following Ayrton Senna’s tragic death, his countrymen were devastated. In Brazil, were Senna was something of a national hero and of course, a major celebrity, many people suffered emotionally following the news of his passing. The country’s television networks gave immediate airtime to coverage, interrupting their normal programming schedules to announce Senna’s death and replay his last interview, given to the media on the day before the accident. Many fans and members of the public gathered outside the Maggiore Hospital to pay their respects to Senna, causing major traffic congestion. Fans also gathered in the Williams F1 factory in Didcot where about two hundred people showed up and laid flowers on the front gates of the factory.

Not long prior to his death, Ayrto nhad told his sister of his ambition to establish a charitable organisation which stemmed his desire to contribute to those less fortunate in an organised and effective way. And so after his death, Senna’s sister, Viviane Senna, set up the IAS in his honour. This organisation has managed to invest nearly US$80 million over the last twelve years in endeavours as broad as social programs with schools, government, NGOs, as well as in the private sector, aiming to offer children from low-income backgrounds the skills and opportunities needed to realise full potential.

Ayrton Senna was among the successful Formula One drivers of the modern era and is considered by observers and fans as one of the greatest drivers in the history of motor sport. His story was told with an acclaimed documentary, Senna, released in 2010.

3 Ross Milne

Leslie Ross Milne was an Australian alpine ski racer who died in training during the lead-up to the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. Aged just nineteen at the time of his death, Milne was fatally injured on the 25th of January when he sustained a head injury after he lost control during a training run at Patscherkofel and struck a tree.

With winter sports, especially back in the 1960’s, not necessarily a major interest amongst Australian sports fans, Milne’s death managed to raise the profile of skiing for the wrong reasons. Milne had learned to ski at the Falls Creek ski area in the Australian Alps in the state of Victoria. He had spent the winter of the previous year racing in Europe in 1963.

Due to his young age, there were questions raised as to whether inexperienced athletes were being sent to train and compete in conditions beyond their capabilities. A report submitted to the Australian Olympic Federation by Australia’s representative on the IOC, Hugh Weir, addressed these concerns specifically. Part of the report included, “Because Ross Milne was only seventeen years of age, the question was raised at the IOC meeting as to whether inexperienced people were being sent to compete in … snow sports which contain an element of danger”.

Of course, as pointed out by a Dr Blaxland at the time, Milne was actually nineteen at the time. Blaxland said he believed it was unfair to suggest he was inexperienced. Dr Blaxland stated, “In our view Ross Milne was an extremely competent skier. He had competed in Australian championships at least four years before, and we considered him to be an experienced skier. He had been in Europe before … His fall was not due to lack of skill on his part”.

Milne’s Australian team manager, John Wagner said that Milne had seen that the path about 150 metres ahead of him was obscured somewhat by contestants gathering as the top part of the downhill course was overcrowded. Milne came to grief as he attempted to slow down “on a spot which was not prepared for stopping or swinging,” Wagner said. He argued that the accident may have been prevented by stricter management of the downhill course, and less people on it. He also said that he believed “any of the top skiers would probably have been in difficulty in a similar situation”.

Despite these claims that it was nothing to do with inexperience on the athlete’s behalf, Australia were not traditionally accustomed to winter sports, so many in the community questioned whether countries such as Australia should be even able to qualify for a Winter Olympics. Ross Milne’s brother Malcolm, competed in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics. He stated that suggestions that skiers from Australia should not be competing on downhill courses only gave him the motivation to prove the doubters wrong.

2 Bill Masterton

William John “Bill” Masterton was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League for the Minnesota North Stars in 1967–68. The twenty-nine year old remains the only player in NHL history to die as a direct result of injuries suffered during a game. Masterton died as the result of extreme head injuries suffered following a hit during a game against the Oakland Seals on the 13th of January, 1968.

Masterton’s death began a lengthy debate in hockey circles as to the merits of wearing helmets, with very few NHL players doing so during those days of the sport. Despite several efforts to make the use of helmets compulsory, it was a further eleven years before the NHL made helmets mandatory for all new players, starting from the 1979–80 season.

In memory of Bill Masterton, the NHL created the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy which it has awarded since 1968 to a player who demonstrates perseverance and dedication to hockey. His team, the North Stars, retired his jersey number 19, an honour that followed the franchise when it later relocated to Dallas.

1 Phil Hughes

Phil Hughes was a promising twenty-five year old Australian cricketer who died recently, just days before his twenty-sixth birthday. The batsmen suffered fatal injuries as the cricket ball hit him high on his neck, after was felled by Sean Abbott’s bouncer during the Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and New South Wales. He never regain consciousness, and passed away two days later at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney.

There have been a handful of deaths as a result of being hit with a cricket ball during a first-class match of cricket. Most of these deaths came as a result of the cricket ball coming in contact with the head of a player, whilst one as a result of Indian Abdul Aziz, being struck over the heart area in 1958.

A cricket ball consists of cork covered by leather, and manufacture is regulated by cricket law at first class level. It is much harder than a baseball and it is potentially lethal, especially when travelling at great speeds and bouncing of pitches which may be somewhat unpredictable. The danger of cricket balls was a key motivator for the introduction of protective equipment, with helmets not regularly worn in the sport until the 1970s. Prior to this and the use of thigh, arm and chest guards, protective equipment consisted primarily of just padded leg protectors and gloves.

The Australian community has been very much affected by Hughes’ death, as has the cricketing community worldwide, from England, South Africa, and of course, cricketing-mad India, and beyond. Most players and fans of the game alike agree that there is an inherent danger constantly present in the sport of cricket, and it is, and always will be, part of the game. Batsmen in cricket are regularly struck by the hard ball, but fatalities occur ever-so rarely.

But as sports journalist Robbert Craddock writes in his Fox Sports column, “As surely as a shooting death prompts calls for increased gun laws, there has been talk of stricter bouncer laws and better helmets”. He and many other lovers of the game insist that law-makers must hold their nerve in the wake of Hughes’ death.

Phil Hughes had represented Australia in both the one-day and Test forms of the game. He debuted quite young in terms of cricket maturity. After a few ups and downs and honing his skills at state level, many experts agreed he was on the verge of cementing his place at the top level and becoming a major part of Australian cricket, and therefore the country’s entire sporting landscape.
In the incident, the ball bowled by Sean Abbot struck Hughes on the neck. The force was such that his vertebral artery was pierced, prompting significant bleeding to the brain. News reports said that physicians induced a coma as they sought to save him, but unfortunately were unable to find success.

“The head injury he suffered was catastrophic,” Dr Tony Grabs, a trauma specialist at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney said, according to the New York Times. “Despite extensive surgery, he did not make very much improvement, and unfortunately, as a consequence of the injury, he died.”

“The word tragedy gets used too often in sport, but this freak accident is now real-life tragedy,” said James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia. “Without doubt, he was a rising star whose best cricket was in front of him,” he said.

Whilst some may argue that some sports are too dangerous and should be modified to make safety more possible, the fact remains that sometimes, injuries and worse happen. As long as the best efforts are made to reduce the risk whilst still maintaining the integrity and elite level of competition of a sport, people will still keep playing them. Phil Hughes was known to be an extremely enthusiastic student of the disciplines of cricket, and as the cliché goes, he died doing something he loved.