Roger Black: Olympic 400m silver medallist undergoes open heart surgery
Olympic 400m silver medalist and two-time 400m relay world champion Roger Black revealed that he had undergone heart surgery.
Black, 58, said he has been undergoing annual tests to perform a heart attack that he was initially diagnosed with 11 years old and had surgery three weeks ago.
Despite his condition, Black continued to enjoy a great career in track and field, winning the Olympic silver medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, lagging behind the great American Michael Johnson.
He is also part of the Great Britain Quartet, which won the world championship 4x400m relay gold in Tokyo in 1991 and Athens in 1997, plus the relay silver at the 1996 Olympics and the Barcelona Olympics four years ago bronze medal.
After retiring from track and field, Black became a TV celebrity, appearing on strict dance and celebrity Masterchef.
“Three weeks ago, I had a heart surgery to replace the aortic valve and repair the aortic root,” Black said on Instagram.,,,,, External
“I discovered my ‘incompetent’ double-night uspid aortic valve when I was 11 years old and over the past 47 years I have been cared for by the Heart Team of Southampton General Hospital.
“In my annual checkup last summer, it was obvious that although I had no obvious symptoms, the situation had worsened.
“It was shocking, but I knew it was deep inside the day, even if I never allowed my heart disease to define me and prevented me from engaging in my athletic career.”
Black continued to thank the hospital staff and then paid tribute to his wife Jules.
He added: “The most important thing is to thank my wife, Jules, for waking up in intensive care 11 hours after the operation and taking care of me every day while recovering.
“Every day is small steps – yesterday we walked to the top of the top of Santa Martha’s hill, which was a big milestone…our special place.”
