Cycling-Olympic champion Archibald describes trying in vain to save partner after cardiac arrest

Double Olympic champion Katie Archibald has described how she tried desperately to save her partner Rob Wardell after he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest at their home early on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Archibald, who won team pursuit gold at the 2016 Rio Games and the Madison in Tokyo alongside Laura Trott, described her devastation after Wardell, 37, died two days after winning Scottish MTB XC Championships.

“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,” Archibald posted on Twitter. “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.” Wardell, a former Commonwealth Games cyclist, appeared on BBC Scotland’s The Nine programme on Monday evening, just hours before his death, describing how he had won the title at Kirroughtree Forest on Sunday despite enduring three punctures.

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