Before the official announcement of the end of Sergio Agüero’s career, the year 2021 had already been marked by an image that had moved as much as it had shocked. In the middle of the Euro match, the Danish Christian Eriksen collapsed on the lawn, victim of a heart attack. Seven months after this painful Saturday, June 12, the player resumed training, but not the competition. Before him, many athletes had already been forced to end their careers following heart problems. Non-exhaustive overview.
Lilian Thuram: an inherited defect
A few weeks after playing Euro 2008 with the France team, Lilian Thuram (36) is preparing to discover his new club, Paris Saint-Germain. But, at the time of the medical examination, he was detected a fragility at the level of the heart. His “thick heart” increases the risk of having a heart attack.
The player knows his fragile heart: his mother and his sisters have a history, his brother even died on a basketball court following a cardiac arrest. On August 1, 2008, a month after this medical visit, the most capped player in the history of the France team (142 caps) held a press conference to formalize the end of his career.
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Lilian Thuram is not the only footballer to have seen this misadventure at the end of his career. Failed because of a heart problem during a medical examination prior to his transfer to Monaco, the ex-striker of Valenciennes and Caen, Steve Savidan (a selection for the France team), was 32 years old at the time- the.
Michael Rogers: cyclist suffered from arrhythmia
It was at the same age as Lilian Thuram (36), that cyclist Michael Rogers was also forced to stop his career in 2015. Triple world time trial champion (2003, 2004, 2005), the Australian reveals suffering from cardiac arrhythmia.
I’m grateful for my time as a professional cyclist. It’s time to announce my retirement. Thank you cycling! https://t.co/ee6uU6kwQ4
– Michael Rogers (@mickrogers) April 25, 2016
“The last cardiac examinations revealed an arrhythmia that had never been detected. This latest diagnosis, added to my congenital heart problem, revealed in 2001, means that my competitive career must come to an end.”, he had then explained in a letter posted on his Twitter account.
Thomas Lombard: an aortic leak discovered at the end of the season
After a season spent in Gloucester, England, Thomas Lombard had planned to end his rugby career in Racing, where it all started for him.
He must finally put an end to it sooner than expected. Following an end-of-season cardiac exam, uaortic leak is detected and puts an end to his career, at age 33. Thomas Lombard will still have had time to win four French league titles with Stade Français (1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004).