The wife of former Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl confirmed the journalist’s cause of death on Wednesday morning.
Following an autopsy performed by the New York City Medical Examiner’s office, Dr. Céline Gounder said the renowned reporter died from an undetected aortic aneurysm. Wahl, 49, collapsed suddenly Friday while covering the quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands at the World Cup in Qatar.
According to Gounder, Wahl’s death was caused by “the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium,” she wrote on Wahl’s Substack, “Fútbol with Grant Wahl.” She noted Wahl’s death was not related to COVID-19 or his vaccination status, and “there was nothing nefarious about his death.”
