Ending rampant speculation ranging from foul play to the COVID vaccine, the cause of death for sportswriter Grant Wahl, who collapsed last week while on assignment in Qatar, has been released.
According to his wife, Dr. Céline Gounder, "an autopsy performed by the New York City Medical Examiner's Office determined he died from a 'slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium,'" as reported by CNN. Wahl was only 49.
Gounder appeared on "CBS Mornings" on Wednesday to discuss her husband. Wahl is credited with helping to popularize soccer in America as a writer for Sports Illustrated and correspondent for Fox Sports. In 2020, he started his own podcast "Fútbol with Grant Wahl" and later a newsletter with the same name. Apple Podcasts described him as "one of the world's leading soccer journalists." He was in Qatar to cover the World Cup, dying suddenly on Friday, in the midst of reporting on a game.
Speculation began immediately after Wahl's death that foul play might have been involved, a concern initially shared by his brother, Eric Wahl, who is openly gay. Grant Wahl wore a rainbow shirt to a World Cup game in support of his brother, and Eric Wahl feared his brother may have suffered repercussions in the country where homosexuality is illegal. Grant Wahl did receive death threats after wearing the shirt, but in the wake of the findings of the autopsy, which was conducted in America, Eric Wahl said on Twitter, "I no longer suspect foul play."
Just now: Security guard refusing to let me into the stadium for USA-Wales. “You have to change your shirt. It’s not allowed.” pic.twitter.com/TvSGThMYq8
— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) November 21, 2022
Also, as with actor Kirstie Alley's death, conspiracy theorists tried to co-opt the news with their own anti-vax narrative. While Alley was an anti-vaxxer whom they claimed was murdered for her views, conspiracists were quick to say that Wahl had died from getting the COVID-19 vaccine. "His death was unrelated to COVID," clarified Gounder, according to CNBC. "His death was unrelated to vaccination status."
CBS describes Grant Wahl's death as being from "natural causes," and Gounder said the ruptured aortic aneurysm, an issue which is difficult to screen for, was "just one of these things that had been likely brewing for years, and for whatever reason it happened at this point in time."
The couple had been married for more than 20 years, after meeting in college. Gounder is a New York University medical doctor specializing in infectious diseases and global health. She's also a CBS News medical contributor; Wahl had reported on sports for the network. He had covered 11 previous World Cups, six men's and five women's.
Gounder told "CBS Mornings" of the many tributes to her husband she's received and said "To know he was so loved by so many people, it makes me feel a little bit less alone." She also spoke about Wahl's commitment to social justice, which she hopes will be his legacy, as an "aspect of soccer that was really important to him, promoting the women's game, recent statements he had made about LGBT rights — that was Grant. That was Grant."
