Just two days after becoming senior Scottish XC Champion, Rab Wardell died in his sleep from a heart attack.
Wardell won the Scottish XC Championship on Sunday which was held in Kirroughtree Forest in Dumfries. He went on to appear on BBC Scotland’s The Nine on Monday evening to talk about his victory the day before. Then tragically died in his sleep that night as announced to the world by Scottish Cycling.
Wardell’s partner Katie Archibald, who is a highly decorated track cyclist, also spoke out on Twitter in a heartfelt series of tweets confirming that Wardell had suffered a ‘cardiac arrest’.
“I think you’ve heard that Rab died yesterday morning. I still don’t understand what’s happened; if this is real; why he’d be taken now – so healthy and happy,” she tweeted.
She went on to write, “He went into cardiac arrest while we were lying in bed. I tried and tried, and the paramedics arrived within minutes, but his heart stopped and they couldn’t bring him back. Mine stopped with it. I love him so much and need him here with me. I need him here so badly, but he’s gone. I can’t describe this pain.”
Alongside his Junior and U23 Scottish XC titles, he was a former Commonwealth Games cyclist and set a new record time for completing the West Highland Way in 2020.
EDITORS COMMENT: It was a shock to learn that Rab Wardell had died in his sleep just two days after his monumental win from a cardiac arrest. Commiserations to his family, friends, fellow sports men and women and especially his partner.
Source: Story by Graham Cottingham Image credit: Rab Wardell.
