Australian researchers have diagnosed what is believed to be the first professional woman athlete with the degenerative brain disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), in what has been described as a landmark diagnosis that should be a “wake-up call” for women’s sport.
Scientists at the Sydney-based Australian Sports Brain Bank research centre said on Monday that they had identified low-stage CTE in the brain of former professional Australian Rules footballer Heather Anderson, who died in November 2022 at the age of 28.
