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New York Times: Sledding athletes are taking their lives. Did brain-rattling rides and high-speed crashes damage their brains?

Matthew Futterman
New York Times·
17 mins to read
New York Times: Sledding athletes are taking their lives. Did brain-rattling rides and high-speed crashes damage their brains?
Thomas Florschuetz of Germany drives a two-man bobsled during a training run at Sanki Sliding Center during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. Photo / NYT.

On May 3, Pavle Jovanovic, a former bobsledder, rigged a chain to a crane he and his brother kept in the shop of their family's metal works in Toms River, New Jersey. He tied the loose end around his neck and hanged himself.

Jovanovic, an Olympian, was just 43, but

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