Three Olympic athletes—bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor and ice hockey players Angela Ruggiero and Hayley Wickenheise—have pledged to donate their brains to the Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF) after their deaths to assist with important concussion and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) research.
Ruggiero and Wickenheiser are retired from Olympic competition, but Meyers Taylor will be competing at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, her third Olympics overall.
According to a prepared statement from the CLF, fewer than 10 brains have been donated thus far from female athletes. Almost 500 brains total have been donated, resulting in 285 diagnoses of CTE.
“I felt it was important for me to put my foot forward and pledge my brain to help this great cause and to learn more about the effects of sports,” Ruggiero said in the CLF statement. “If it can help future generations, it’s worth it to me.”
This announcement comes at the beginning of the CLF’s Brain Pledge Month, which encourages athletes “to make a lasting contribution to concussion and CTE research.”
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.