Rajpal S, Tong MS, Borchers J, et al. - Via this study, researchers sought to determine the utility of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in competitive athletes recovered from COVID-19 to identify myocardial inflammation that would recognize high-risk athletes for return to competitive play. CMR imaging was performed in 26 competitive college athletes (mean [SD] age, 19.5 [1.5] years; 15 male [57.7%]) from the following sports: football, soccer, lacrosse, basketball, and track. Among these athletes, 4 (15%) had CMR findings indicative of myocarditis and 8 additional athletes (30.8%) showed late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) without T2 elevation suggestive of prior myocardial injury. Observations revealed correlation of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging evidence of myocardial inflammation with poor outcomes, including myocardial dysfunction and mortality. Possible link of athletic cardiac adaptation with the abnormalities is suggested; however, in this cohort, those with suspected myocarditis had mean (SD) T2 of 59 (3) milliseconds vs 51 (2) milliseconds in those without, favoring pathology. In addition, higher rate of LGE (42%) was reported than noted in previously described normative populations. Per findings, although there is necessity for long-term follow-up and large studies including control populations to understand CMR changes in competitive athletes, CMR may yield an excellent risk-stratification evaluation for myocarditis in athletes who have recovered from COVID-19 to guide safe competitive sports participation.