A Needle in a Haystack Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a rare but devastating diagnosis for an athlete. The abbreviation is also pronounced “hocum”. HCM is a huge deal in the sports world for one major reason; it can kill you. It is commonly reported that hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the commonest case of exercise-related sudden cardiac death. Moreover, the most common initial sign is not chest pain or shortness of breath, it is sudden death! Every time we do sports ph