Buzz
We often expect athletes to give their absolute best. At their peak, sports competitions are a powerful display of both raw physical prowess and the unwavering dedication that comes with endless training. When teams emerge victorious or an athlete wins a gold medal, it is a testament to both natural talent and relentless effort.
However, sometimes fate intervenes before the final whistle or finishing line. Some athletes step onto the field with every intention of giving it their all, only to find themselves with nothing left to give.
Here are ten athletes who, tragically, left everything behind on the field.
10. A Fatal Jump: Kevin Dare
Pole vaulting is regarded as one of the most perilous events in track and field. This is due to the extreme height athletes achieve when launching themselves, often soaring more than a dozen feet above the ground, with little to no protection. While serious injuries, like a college athlete requiring 18 stitches after a pole punctured his scrotum, do occur, fatalities are less frequent. The greatest risk of death comes from missing the landing pad and crashing headfirst into the ground after failing to clear the bar.
A particularly chilling example occurred in February 2002, when 19-year-old Kevin Dare, a sophomore at Penn State, was competing at the Big Ten track and field championships. The bar was set at 15 feet 7 inches, a height Dare had previously cleared with ease, having surpassed 16 feet in practice. He sprinted down the runway, planted the pole, and shot upwards as it bent and recoiled, propelling him higher. However, when the pole reached its vertical position, Dare attempted to kick out, mistakenly believing he had cleared the bar.
“He swung upside down and seemed to stall in midair,” assistant coach Mario Sategna recalled. “It appeared that he became disoriented, unable to determine his position.”
Dare then released the pole and plummeted directly downward, striking his head on the steel casing at the base of the takeoff point. Despite efforts from spectators and medics to assist him, he was declared dead shortly after reaching the hospital.
9. Checked Out: Bill Masterton
Ice hockey, notorious for its violent nature, surprisingly does not see more fatalities. However, such tragedies do occur. Just last month, 19-year-old Russian junior league player Timur Faizutdinov tragically collapsed after being struck in the head by a puck. He passed away on March 16.
Despite the sport’s intense collisions and occasional semi-legal fights, deaths in hockey remain relatively rare. The most recent death caused by a fight happened in 2009, when Don Sanderson, a player in the Ontario Hockey League, tragically struck his head on the ice during a scuffle.
Remarkably, there has been only one fatal on-ice incident in the history of the NHL, North America’s premier professional hockey league. On January 13, 1968, Bill Masterton, center for the Minnesota North Stars, was speeding down the ice when two players from the Oakland Seals closed in on him with a legal yet forceful check.
At that time, many players, including Masterton, were not wearing helmets. The check sent him flying backwards, and many witnesses speculated that he was knocked unconscious even before hitting the ice. His impact was so violent that it was heard from the bench. After briefly regaining consciousness, Masterton was heard muttering, “Never again, never again.” Sadly, his words were prophetic, as he died 30 hours later without ever regaining full consciousness.
8. Foiled: Vladimir Smirnov
Vladimir Smirnov, a fencer from the Soviet Union, made history at the 1980 Moscow Olympics by winning the gold medal in men’s individual foil, along with two additional medals in team events. His achievements weren’t simply a result of the 65 nations that boycotted the Games, including many Western countries. In 1981, he proved his skill again by winning the World Championships.
By July 1982, Smirnov was gearing up to defend his World Championship title in Rome. Among his competitors was Matthias Behr, a West German fencer who had taken home the gold in the 1976 Olympics. The highly anticipated duel began with both champions displaying exceptional skill—attacking, parrying, and blocking. But then Behr made his move…
…and his sword shattered. The sharp remnants of Behr’s blade tore through the mesh of Smirnov’s face mask, continuing its path and piercing Smirnov’s eye socket, ultimately embedding itself in his brain.
Smirnov collapsed to the floor and fell unconscious. Nine days later, he succumbed to his injuries, becoming one of only seven fencers to ever die from a competition-related incident. His tragic death led to significant improvements in fencing equipment safety, including swords made from stronger materials, Kevlar uniforms, and face masks reinforced with tougher steel alloys to prevent penetration. Since Smirnov’s passing, no fatalities have occurred at the highest levels of fencing.
7. Neck and Neck: Howard Glenn and Stone Johnson
Chuck Hughes, a wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, is tragically remembered in American sports history as the only NFL player to die on the field. On October 24, 1971, during a game against the Chicago Bears, Hughes collapsed after a play due to a severe heart attack, passing away later that day.
The modern NFL is a merger of two leagues: the original National Football League and the absorbed American Football League. This union saw two equally tragic, though largely forgotten, deaths.
In 1960, Howard Glenn, an offensive guard for the New York Titans (now the Jets), sustained what appeared to be a minor injury during a game. As the team prepared for their next match against the Oilers in Houston, Glenn complained of headaches, but kept quiet about the severity of his condition.
During a huddle, Glenn confided, "I don’t think I can make it," but was urged to continue. Not long after, he was hit hard by two defenders and required assistance to get up. After the game, Glenn went to the hospital, where he tragically passed away. The cause of death was revealed to be a broken neck, though it’s uncertain whether the injury occurred in Houston or the previous week’s game.
Three years later, Stone Johnson, a former Olympic sprinter, was playing for the Kansas City Chiefs during a kickoff return. A devastating hit left him paralyzed with a broken neck, and he passed away the following week. Though Johnson never participated in a regular season game, as the accident happened during a preseason exhibition, his #33 jersey was retired in his honor.
6. Death by Ref? (David Browne)
Boxing has undeniably caused the highest number of athlete fatalities. While many deaths are just the result of the sport’s brutal nature, there are instances where poor officiating plays a significant role. A tragic example occurred in 2017 when Canadian heavyweight Tim Hague was relentlessly beaten by Adam Braidwood. Hague was knocked down five times in two rounds, the fifth fall leading to his death two days later. Allowing the fight to continue for that long raises serious questions about the referee’s judgment.
A particularly troubling incident of death due to referee negligence happened in Australia. On September 11, 2015, super featherweight David Browne initially showed promise but began to fade against Filipino fighter Carlo Magali. By the 11th round, Browne was taking a heavy beating.
As seen on 60 Minutes Australia, after the 11th round, Browne, who had been hit several times after the bell due to the referee’s lack of attention, struggled to even find his corner to sit down. He had suffered a severe concussion, and the coroner’s report concluded that he was unable to properly defend himself or continue fighting. Browne’s corner attempted to stall for time, as they believed he might still win on points if he survived the final round despite his grogginess.
Unfortunately, Browne didn’t survive. When the 12th round bell rang, the referee actually pulled him out of his corner and back into the center of the ring. Completely defenseless, Browne endured a series of brutal blows, so horrific that the footage has since been removed from the internet. He passed away three days later.
5. A Rugby Death Spree in… France?
Though rugby is traditionally associated with English-speaking nations like New Zealand and Wales, where it holds the status of the national sport, France has recently experienced a disturbing series of fatalities on rugby fields across the country.
On November 24, 2018, 23-year-old Nathan Soyeux, a player for ESIREM Graduate School, suffered a severe injury from a powerful tackle. After briefly sitting up and talking with the medics, he lost consciousness and was rushed to a hospital in Dijon. Doctors placed him in an induced coma for two weeks, but when attempts were made to awaken him, his condition worsened. He passed away in early January 2019.
Alarmingly, Soyeux became the fourth French rugby player to die from an injury in just eight months. His tragic death occurred only a few weeks after 18-year-old Nicolas Chauvin, a flanker with the Stade Francais Academy, died after breaking his neck. Prior to Chauvin, professional player Louis Fajfrowski collapsed and died in his club’s locker room in Aurillac. A heavy tackle had forced him off the field, and an autopsy revealed that a blow to the chest caused “lethal fibrillation,” leading to fatal changes in his heartbeat.
Before Fajfrowski, 17-year-old amateur player Adrien Descrulhes tragically passed away in May 2018 after sustaining a crushing head injury. The series of deaths led to France implementing new rules aimed at reducing the risk of dangerous pileups, and other countries are now considering similar measures.
4. A Heart-Stopping Tragedy: Bruno Boban
Soccer, a sport that often demands athletes to cover miles in a single 90-minute game, frequently leads to fatal incidents involving overburdened hearts. Tragically, many footballers have suffered cardiac arrests on the field, with the most recent case being the death of 24-year-old Alex Apolinario, a Brazilian player for FC Alverca in Portugal. Apolinario went into cardiorespiratory arrest during a match in January and passed away shortly after.
In 2016, Patrick Ekeng, a 26-year-old Cameroonian professional footballer, tragically collapsed during a game in Bucharest, Hungary. The midfielder, who had been fully active one moment, suddenly fell unconscious, his body sprawled out on the field.
Another shocking incident occurred in 2018, when Bruno Boban, a 25-year-old Croatian footballer, died after being struck in the chest by the ball during a match. After the blow, Boban, a forward for NK Marsonia in the Croatian league, continued to stand and even jog for several seconds before suddenly collapsing.
Medical staff attempted to resuscitate Boban for 40 minutes, but their efforts proved in vain. An autopsy later revealed that the forceful impact of the ball caused Boban’s heart to stop, leading to his tragic death.
3. The Sweet Kiss of Death: Frank Hayes
At just 22 years old, Frank Hayes had never won a race. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that Hayes wasn’t really a jockey at all, as he spent most of his short career training horses rather than riding them.
On June 4, 1923, at Belmont Park in New York, Hayes’ streak appeared unlikely to end. He was set to race in a steeplechase, a type of race that includes hurdles and ditches for the horses to clear. Hayes was riding Sweet Kiss, a 20-to-1 longshot, but to everyone’s surprise, Sweet Kiss surged from the gate, cleared every obstacle effortlessly, and crossed the finish line a head ahead of the second-place horse. Hayes had won.
However, Hayes had also tragically died. During the race, he suffered a fatal heart attack, which was only discovered when the horse’s owner went over to congratulate him. An investigation later suggested that Hayes' cardiac arrest might have been triggered by the extreme physical effort required to meet the weight limits for the race.
W.C. Vreeland wrote in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, "It was the first winning mount for Hayes, and the last." Witnesses were left in awe that Hayes had managed to stay in the saddle, enduring the violent jumps and landings required in steeplechase. He was buried in his racing silks three days later. Sweet Kiss was considered cursed and never raced again.
2. A Fatal Swing Shifts Baseball’s Dead Ball Era: Ray Chapman
Babe Ruth’s record-breaking home run spree may never have occurred if it hadn’t been for the tragic death of a lesser-known player.
Before 1921, baseballs were often in play for several innings, and by the time they were retired, they were in a near-destroyed state. Fans had to return foul balls instead of keeping them as souvenirs, and the balls were poorly stitched, which led to scuffing and dirt accumulation. The baseball’s performance was hampered, causing it to travel poorly and limiting offensive plays, making home runs a rare sight.
As described in Ken Burns’ documentary, this period in baseball, known as the “Dead Ball Era,” was defined by a “misshapen, earth-colored ball that flew erratically through the air, softened as the innings passed, and was very hard to see as it crossed the plate.”
On August 16, 1920, the tragedy struck. Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians was at bat when Carl Mays, a Yankees pitcher with a submarine-style delivery, threw a fastball high and inside. Chapman, who was wearing only a cap (as protective helmets were still rare at the time), failed to react and seemingly couldn’t see the pitch coming.
The sharp crack as the ball hit Chapman’s skull was deafening, and the ball’s rebound so clear, that Mays initially thought it had struck the end of Chapman’s bat. He then made the play, throwing it to first base, all while Chapman lay motionless in the batter’s box.
Chapman passed away 12 hours later. His death contributed to the development of a more resilient and frequently replaced baseball, a change that would significantly alter the trajectory of legendary home runs, like those hit by Ruth, making them less frequent and less powerful without the innovation.
1. The Goalkeeper Becomes the Cryptkeeper: Akli Fairuz
Though goalkeepers have little wear on their hearts, they often find themselves in dangerous situations, such as sprinting toward a ball while an opponent or teammate races from the opposite direction. In 2017, such a moment occurred for Choirul Huda, a goalkeeper for Persela in the Indonesia Super League. While trying to collect a misplaced ball, he collided with a teammate. Huda’s head struck the ground, and after briefly holding his face and jaw, he collapsed, losing consciousness. Tragically, he later died from the head injury.
On May 10, 2014, during an Indonesian Premier League match, the goaltender was the one causing the harm – and with much less justification. After a shot struck the chest of PSAP Sigli goalkeeper Agus Rahman, it bounced straight into the path of Persiraja forward Akli Fairuz.
The two players charged towards the ball, with Fairuz reaching it first. As Fairuz controlled the ball and eventually scored off the rebound, Rahman launched himself into a feet-first dive, raising his cleats to kick Fairuz directly in the stomach in a move that resembled a WWE drop-kick. This led to both benches rushing onto the field as Fairuz’s teammates confronted Rahman over the cheap shot.
Fairuz appeared to be fine and even continued to watch the game from the sidelines. However, later at the hospital, doctors discovered severe internal injuries. Despite undergoing surgery, he passed away. To make matters worse, the goal he had scored was ruled out.
