Sudden cardiac death is the leading cause of mortality among young athletes with 
an incidence of 1-2 per 100,000 athletes per annum. It is described as 'an event 
that is non-traumatic, non-violent, unexpected, and resulting from sudden 
cardiac arrest within six hours of previously witnessed normal health'. Most 
predisposed athletes have no symptoms and there is no warning for the impending 
tragic event. The majority of cases are caused by an underlying structural 
cardiac abnormality, most commonly hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. More recently, 
the understanding of non-structural causes such as long QT syndrome and Brugada 
syndrome has grown and diagnostic criteria have been developed. This review 
presents the known aetiologies of sudden cardiac death among athletes and 
outlines their identification and management including implications for future 
sporting participation as laid out in the consensus documents produced by the 
European Society of Cardiology and the 36th Bethesda Conference.