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SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt provides update after medical scare

Chandler Vesselsby:Chandler Vessels01/10/22

ChandlerVessels

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Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Global Gaming Expo

SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt provided an update via Twitter after a medical emergency Monday. Van Pelt suffered from what is known as supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), an abnormally fast or erratic heartbeat that affects the heart’s upper chambers.

He will not host Monday night’s edition of SportsCenter, but will return soon and is thankful to be OK.

“Bummed to miss one of my favorite shows of the year, but happy to be ok and home after a bit of a medical scare this afternoon,” he wrote on Twitter. “…Heart got a little out of whack, which was pretty spooky, but fine now.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, a normal heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. During an episode of SVT, the heart rate can reach as much as 220 beats per minute or more. Thankfully, people with SVT typical “live healthy lives without restrictions or treatment.” In rare cases though, medication or heart procedures may be required.

Van Pelt has been the midnight anchor for SportsCenter since 2015. Prior to that, he hosted his own radio show, The Scott Van Pelt Show, which was later changed to SVP & Russilo in 2012. He joined ESPN in 2001 after working with the Golf Channel from 1995-2000. There he covered several big events, including the Masters Tournament.

Van Pelt’s absence comes on a particular big night in college football, with Alabama and Georgia competing for a national championship. With just over 10 minutes remaining in the game, the Crimson Tide held an 18-13 lead against the Bulldogs.

It will certainly feel different without Scott Van Pelt delivering the post game news, but it is good to hear he isn’t too shaken up from the medical scare. There is still plenty of big moments awaiting him in 2022, and America will be anxiously hoping for his return to the SportsCenter studio.