Grant Wahl Died of a Burst Blood Vessel, His Family Says

The family of Grant Wahl, the celebrated soccer journalist who died suddenly last week at the World Cup in Qatar, said on Wednesday that he had a heart problem.

His death was caused by a weakness in the arteriosclerosis wall, which can cause anneurysms. An autopsy done in New York showed that Mr. Wahl had a catastrophic tear in the ascending aorta.

There was a lot of speculation following Mr. Wahl's death. There are posts on social media that suggest links to Covid vaccines or an article written about immigrant deaths.

Dr. Gounder is a leading infectious disease physician who advised the transition team on Covid-19. She and the rest of the family didn't like the idea of him being linked to vaccines because of her work.

According to Dr. Gounder, he died instantly and did not feel pain. She said that she was relieved to know what it was.

Mr. Wahl had been sick with a cold for several days before collapsing, and had written in his newsletter that he felt his body was starting to break down after weeks of poor sleep and long days covering the games.

It was more of a shock to his friends, family and readers that he died at 49 years old. The sniffles and other cold symptoms he had were not related to the aneurysm.

Dr. Gounder was worried that she could have prevented his death if they had talked more often while he was in the Middle East.

Eric Wahl initially said that he suspected foul play and that his brother might have had a blood clot in his lungs. Eric said that he no longer believed those were factors in his brother's death.

An autopsy found that Mr. Wahl had an arteriosclerosis, a weakness of the blood vessel. As the aneurysm grows, it can cause a cough, chest pain, and even a case of bronchitis, which the doctors consulted by Mr. Wahl in Qatar might have attributed to his cold.

Sometimes the aneurysm can lead to death. Doctors are looking into the possibility that Mr. Wahl had Marfan Syndrome. He had long arms and was tall and thin.

Mr. Wahl wrote hundreds of articles on a variety of sports for the magazine over the course of 20 years.

The cover story on a teenageLebron James in 2002 was an important one for both the writer and the subject. Mr. James spoke about the writer's impact on him and his family at a news conference and on social media.

Mr. Wahl began writing about soccer when he was a student reporter at the university. He became a guide for a generation of fans and readers just learning the game through his writings.

The growth of women's soccer, the breadth of corruption in soccer, human rights violations and gay rights were all highlighted by his profile and social-media megaphone.

Mr. Wahl had worked at Sports Illustrated for more than two decades and was fired over a dispute about pay cuts. He had a large following and started an email newsletter and a show.

He was covering the World Cup for the eighth time. He collapsed in the press box at the end of the Argentina-Netherlands game.

According to two New York Times journalists who were present, medical personnel tried to revive Mr. The man died at the hospital.

The Biden administration and the New York City health department helped her bring the body to the US for an autopsy.

Dr. Gounder wanted to get to the bottom of the circumstances of her husband's death. She wanted to make sure the conspiracy theories about his death weren't true.