Tori Bowie, Maddy Cusack and the athletes who tragically died in 2023

2023 will also be remembered for being the year in which many sports stars starred in tragic moments that ended with their death. These were their stories.

The American athlete Tori Bowie, a triple Olympic medalist at the Rio 2016 Olympics, died on April 23, 2023 at the age of 32. She died from eclampsia caused by the premature birth of the child, who also sadly died in the process.

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star Bray Wyatt died "unexpectedly" on August 24, 2023 at the age of 36, according to WWE itself. The wrestler, whose real name was Windham Rotunda, died in his sleep from a myocardial infarction.

Women's football has also been in mourning in 2023 with a few notable deaths. One of the most notorious was that of the English midfielder Maddy Cusack, only 27 years old, who died suddenly on September 20 without the causes of her death being specified. On July 21, Sheffield United had renewed her, making her one of the team's captains.

At 28 years old, the Ghanaian forward joined many other footballers and athletes who have lost their lives suddenly. On November 11, 2023, the player who had stints with well-known teams such as Levante and Real Zaragoza in Spain, collapsed on the field during a match between his team, Egnatia of Albania and Partizan of Tirana. Resuscitation was attempted in vain.

The Swedish world trail running medalist died on November 13, 2023 at the age of 21, although the reasons for her death have not been revealed. The athlete has been battling depression after being forced out of the competition to combat an elevated heart rate, reaching between 120-150 beats per minute at rest.

Image: Instagram by Emilia Brangefält (@emiliabrangefalt).

Adam Johnson, a former NHL player for the Pittsburgh Penguins died after suffering a cut to his neck following a collision with a rival player while competing in the UK's Elite Hockey League on October 28, 2023 – he was 29. The other player was later charged with manslaughter as prosecutors will try and prove his dangerous actions directly caused Johnson's death.

The world of Supercross was in mourning on October 3, 2023 when the news was announced that former North American professional rider Jeff Alessi had died at only 34 years old. A sudden death that, according to speedweek.com, was due to a massive heart attack.

A gold medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the Brazilian volleyball player died tragically on September 21, 2023 at the age of 43 after falling from the 17th floor of a building in Bela Vista, an exclusive neighborhood of São Paulo.

Former power forward Brandon Hunter, who played in the NBA for the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic, as well as a few other teams outside the United States, died on September 12, 2023 at the age of 42 after collapsing while doing Bikram yoga in the city of Orlando.

Victoria Lee was one of the great hopes in women's mixed martial arts (MMA) – a discipline in which her brothers, Angela and Christian, had already become world champions. But tragedy has prevented her from succeeding in this sport. The young fighter ended her life at the age of 18 in January 2023 due to the depression she suffered, according to her family members.

Image: Victoria Lee's Instagram (@victorialee.mma).

On July 12, 2023, the news of the death of South African rugby star Nick Koster was announced, a strange event whose causes have not been revealed. The sad news was confirmed by the Bristol Bears, one of the last teams in which he played, having retired in 2018.

Former Canadian Olympic figure skater Alexandra Paul died on August 22, 2023 at the age of 31 after suffering a terrible accident in which a truck ran over the vehicle in which she was traveling with her son along with four other cars while they were queuing at Melancthon Township, Ontario (Canada), as reported by Sky News.

Another football player who died this year was the young Moldovan player Violeta Mitul, who, at 26 years old, in a fatal accident on September 4, according to CNN. Mitul fell off one of the cliffs at the Vopnafjörður marina (Iceland) after traveling up there with her teammates.

Four-time kickboxing world champion Vitalii Merinov, a Ukrainian national, died on March 31, 2023 in hospital as a result of injuries suffered while fighting Russian forces in the war they are having with his country in the eastern region of Luhansk.

Image: Instagram by Vitalii Merinov (@merinov.vitalii).

Mikala Jones conquered the sea on a daily basis, but it was there that he would also lose his life. On July 9, 2023. surfer Mikala Jones, 44, died while surfing on the Mentawai Islands (Indonesia). During a wipeout, he suffered a cut in the groin area that pierced his femoral artery and he bled to death.

Danielle Ballard, a player at LSU (Louisiana State University) from 2012 to 2015 and a Memphis school basketball star with Central High School, died at the age of 29 at the Regional One hospital to which she was urgently transferred on July 13, 2023 after being hit by a car in Raleigh, Tennessee.

Former quarterback Ryan Mallett, who played several seasons in the NFL, died on June 27, 2023 when he had just turned 35 years old. The former New England Patriots player was rushed to a Florida hospital after his body was found on a beach near Destin, where he had arrived after drowning.

The young motorcycle racer, 24 years old, was found dead at his home in Trento (Italy). It was his relatives who found him and notified the medical services, who came quickly, although they could do nothing to save him.

Image: Instagram by Filippo Momesso (@filippomomesso31).

Belgian striker Cédric Roussel died on June 25, 2023 at the age of 45 after suffering cardiac arrest. He will be remembered for his successes in football wearing the shirts of English clubs such as Coventry City and Wolverhampton or, in Belgium, at Genk and Standard Liege.

Swiss cyclist Gino Mäder lost his life after suffering a fall in the middle of a stage of the Tour de Suisse that took place on July 15, although he would not die until the next day. He was found unconscious underwater and, although he was quickly taken by helicopter to Chur hospital, doctors could do nothing for him.

The American BMX star, one of the best riders in the world, died on June 6, 2023, at the age of 29, when a motorcycle fell on him while practicing motocross at the Slayground Motocross Park circuit in Ramona (California).

A specialist in paragliding and base jumping and an expert in extreme challenges, the Spanish Álex Villar died on May 6, 2023 at the age of 34 during a flight in the Pyrenees. Villar, who in 2019 crossed the Piedrafita Arch at 250 kilometers per hour, a hole only seven meters high and four meters wide, lost stability during the landing phase and could not manage his flight after jumping from a rock in the Chistau Valley (Huesca).

Image: Instagram of Álex Villar (@alexvillarfly).

At 46 years old, the Spanish racer Raül Torras suffered a fatal accident on June 6, 2023 in the third race of the year of the Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man, a prestigious and dangerous event in the motor world that has claimed more than 260 lives in its centenary history.

The 28-year-old Colombian cyclist and his father died after being hit by a truck while training in Cundinamarca, Bogotá (Colombia). The young runner lost his life instantly, while his father did so shortly after at the La Sabana de Chía Clinic.

Image: Instagram of Team Sistecrédito (@teamsistecredito).

The volleyball player for the Brazilian team Ana Paula Borgo died on May 11, 2023 at the age of 29, a victim of stomach cancer that had forced her to retire from the world of sport in the month of September 2022.

Considered the best Spanish athlete in the practical shooting modality (IPSC), Jorge Ballesteros died on January 10, 2023 at the age of 39. According to the magazine 'Jara y Sedal', citing sources in the shooting field, Ballesteros was found in a very serious condition inside his vehicle in Madrid with a gunshot wound.

Image: Instagram of Jorge Ballesteros (@jorgeballesterosipsc).

Brazilian UFC fighter Felipe Colares died on May 1, 2023 at age 29 after being hit by a bus while returning home after his usual day of training at a gym in Rio de Janeiro. Colares had just become a father six months earlier and in the world of the UFC he had a promising career.

Former footballer Javier Yacuzzi, one of Arsenal's stand out players in the glory days of the mid-2000s, died suddenly on May 29, 2023 at the age of 43 after contracting histoplasmosis, an infectious disease caused by the fungus histoplasma capsulatum.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Shalie Lipp lost her life on May 9, 2023 at the age of 21 in a traffic accident. The athlete was traveling in a car, without wearing a seat belt, and the result of the collision with another vehicle on a highway in Minnesota (United States) proved fatal.

Image: Shalie Lipp's Instagram (@shalielipp).

The former Spanish footballer who played for teams such as Albacete, Oviedo and Elche, took his life on February 28, 2023 at the age of 32 by jumping onto the train tracks, where he was run over by a convoy on the outskirts of the city Oviedo. In 2018, Novo fell from the third floor of a hotel in Huesca, an accident that forced him to give up football to dedicate himself to wheelchair tennis.

The Spanish footballer from Córdoba CF died from electrocution after holding on to the high-voltage coupling cables between two carriages of a convoy parked at the Santa Justa station in Seville, where he sought refuge after spending the night in the city.

The Argentine rugby player Benjamin Gamond died on May 12, 2023 at the age of 23 on the beaches of Oaxaca, southern Mexico. According to the authorities of the North American country, he was attacked with a machete from behind and by surprise in front of his girlfriend, who witnessed the tragic event.

Image: Instagram by Benjamin Gamond (@benjagamond).

Another young Spanish footballer, although born in Equatorial Guinea, who died in 2023 is David García Mitogo, who, at 32 years old, played in the Third Division of the Preferente Sur de Galicia. His lifeless body was found on May 11, 2023 in the Avia River, in the province of Ourense (Spain), after days of searching.

Image: Twitter profile of David García Mitogo (@Mitogo7).

The American mountaineer of Ukrainian origin Anna Gutu died on October 7, 2023 at the age of 31 along with her guide Mingmar Sherpa in an avalanche on Shisha Pangma, the last peak she had left to become the first mountaineer from her country to climb. the 14 'eight thousand', according to the Nepalese newspaper The Himalayan Times.

Image: Instagram by Anna Gutu (@anyatraveler).

The soccer player also died on September 6, 2023 at the age of 17 after a prolonged coma that led to the erroneous diagnosis of meningitis. A death that shocked women's football, from which they sent numerous messages of support to the family of the young Canarian goalkeeper.

Image: Unión Viera.

The famous British bodybuilder Neil Currey at the age of 34 died on September 12, 2023 at the age of 34. He had been dedicated to bodybuilding for the last six years, he was one of the most recognized figures in the world of bodybuilding and his death, which has surprised everyone, is surrounded by mystery.

Image: Neil Currey's Instagram (@neil_currey).

The former NFL player, who was a Super Bowl champion alongside Joe Montana, died on October 1, 2023 at the age of 70 in a plane crash at the airport in Lake Placid, New York.

And in this case not an athlete, but a manager from the world of sports, the American John Berylson, president of Millwall FC of the English Football League Championship, died the victim of a "tragic accident", at the age of 70, on July 4 2023, according to the club itself.