Most tragic sports deaths

Sports have always been played to bring enjoyment to the audiences and the players. However, there have been several sporting events, which have been marred by one or the other tragedy. Here, we have come up with some of the top sports deaths. In this list, we’ll focus on the deaths, which occurred in the game, or at least in the playing field to the athletes and spectators. So, that implies that we haven’t included any death, which happened out of the sporting arena, such as the plane crashes, or the accidents, or bombings, or the terrorist attacks. 

Benny Paret – Boxing

Benny, a Cuban fighter, was in the fight against Emile Griffith, where he was guarding his welterweight title when this event occurred. Back in 1962, on the 24th of August, the two boxers who had both won a fight each against one another were back in the ring. The audience was rooting for a tiebreaker, but none knew that for Benny, it would be his last match. It was the 12th round when Griffith knocked out Paret along the ropes. He didn’t stop there and kept shooting punches at him until the intervention by the referee Ruby Goldstein. Following the incident, Paret slipped into a coma, and just 10 days later, the entire world was shaken by the death of Benny Paret from brain hemorrhaging. Rihanna, a math homework provider with TFTH, says that her dad, who was the live spectator of this match, narrated this incident to her when she was a kid, and just hearing it gave her goosebumps. This fight took boxing off the television until 1970. It also made a few pundits question if boxing should continue being a sport or not.   

Sarah Burke – Freestyle Skiing

Sarah has been a winner of 4 gold medals in the Winter X Games. Many even say that it was Sarah because of who the superpipe skiing event was included in the Olympic Games of 2014 in Sochi, Russia. However, Sarah, a Canadian freestyler, couldn’t save herself. She died because of a training exercise gone horribly wrong. The incident happened in January of 2012 in Utah, when Sarah fell on her head after performing a trick. Though then, it seemed like just another accident. However, following this, Sarah went into a cardiac arrest and had to be rushed to the hospital. After being admitted for nine days, she succumbed to her injuries. Chris, who’s been a major contributor to the listing of all the courses of TrumpLearning, says that what is most saddening about the demise of Sarah is that it occurred just two years before the Olympics debut of superpipe where everyone thought Sarah would be the ultimate winner. 

Bill Masterton – Hockey

One more incident which led to a long debate around the safety of a sport was centered around the death of Bill Masterton. Though it is the only death to date in the history of NHL being caused as a result of an ice-injury, it was still tragic and hurtful. The incident occurred in January 1968, when Bill was playing for Minnesota North Stars, and the game took a brutal yet clean hit when two players from the opposite team collided with Bill. Since Bill wasn’t adorning a helmet, he sustained grave head injuries because of the hit. Just two days after this incident, he passed away. Every year, the NHL gives away the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy to a player who depicts commendable dedication and perseverance towards the game. Harry, an essay writing expert, who works with TAE, says that he has a habit of watching the old NHL clips on YouTube, and when he came across this Bill Masterton incidence, it shook him beyond anything. 

Phillip Hughes – Cricket

Phillip Hughes had already represented his native country Australia in the international competition and was slowly paving a way for success in the field of cricket, but fate had different plans. All his plans were cut short on 25th November 2014. While on the field, he missed a hook shot to a bouncer and was struck in the neck. This led to a vertebral artery dissection, which in turn caused a brain hemorrhage. He was placed in a coma, but sadly Phil never woke up. Just three days before his 26th birthday, the young man left all of us. Dave, who helps students write the most excellent essays and works with EssayWriter4U, says that the good thing is Phillip Hughes’ death didn’t go in vain, the board used this incident as a learning experience and redesigned the batting helmets, which could prevent all such future incidents.     

Owen Hart – Wrestling

Owen was always regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of the WWF (World Wrestling Federation). He had won multiple championships and hailed from a wrestling dynasty. Hart was the staple on the PPV (Pay Per View). However, unfortunately, the career of this legendary wrestler was cut short in 1999’ May. His untimely death occurred as a result of an equipment malfunction while he was lowered into the ring. This made him fall 78 feet. Irrespective of the strenuous efforts by the medical staff at the Kansas City hospital and the in-house healthcare professionals, Hart couldn’t be saved, and he died of internal bleeding.