Professional athletes lead a crazily short and often lucrative working life, over within a decade or so of its beginning, wreathed in success or disappointment. Memories of glory, often embellished, are revived in middle age for nostalgia or for reheating in ill-advised comebacks.
It is unlikely the 31-year-old Nico Rosberg will be returning to his dangerous sport. Nor will the 26-year-old Nick Blackwell – but for wholly different reasons. Blackwell, the middleweight boxer who nearly died eight months ago, was still recovering in hospital on Friday from injuries sustained in a recent sparring session his father, John, described as silly when Rosberg, newly crowned as Formula One champion, announced he was looking forward to a quieter life with his family.
Related: Nico Rosberg drew the best from himself before bowing out as a F1 champion | Paul Weaver
Related: Boxing is a sweet science but Nick Blackwell was too brave for his own good
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