Sudden death of a champion athlete. Autopsy findings

We report the autopsy findings after the sudden death of a champion swimmer. The athlete was asymptomatic and had only recently retired from a sport in which he had been the South African captain for 4 years and the national record holder in the 400 m medley event. He died suddenly shortly after returning from a 5 km run. At autopsy there was histological evidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.