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A surprising number of Olympians have excelled at competition only to have their medal-winning bodies fail them shortly after.
But all of that, plus years of training, wasn’t enough to save him.
His son’s reply: “No Dad, I’ll risk it.
“What will be will be,” he added.
Nodar did not make it past the turn.
Her racing is one of severalOlympic moments guaranteed to make you cry.
Look good to feel good.
And feel good to run fast!”
Bahman Golbarnezhad died during the 2016 Summer Olympics
Bahman Golbarnezhad lived much of his life able-bodied.
But that changed forever in the late 1980s, while he was a soldier in the Iran-Iraq war.
Patrolling one night, the Iranian stepped on a land mine.
But he didn’t let his injuries limit him.
He decided to take up cycling, and a decade later, he qualified for the 2012 London Games.
The news was bittersweet, however: His wife died of cancer that same year (viaTehran Times).
Still, he showed strength again, forging ahead to represent his country.
He also qualified in 2016, and he headed to the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He left behind one son.
Steve Prefontaine’s trailblazing career was cut short by a car crash
Michael Jordan.
If you’re not into running, that last name might seem out of place.
But long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine deserves to be on the list of all-time greats.
After a close race, he fell out of third place in the final few meters.
Still, his competitive spirit never waned.
“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
Unfortunately his career and life ended far too early.
He was just 24.
Twenty years with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Eighteen trips to the All-Star Games.
By then, he had also earned two Olympic gold medals.
His first trip to the Games was in 2008, to Beijing, China.
Despite all of his achievements, the Olympics were different and special for Bryant.
“It’s a different feeling playing for your country.”
But she would never find out what the future held for her.
Two helicopters carrying contestants, including the swimmer, hit each other, killing everyone on board.
A second French Olympic athlete boxer Alexis Vastine also died, along with several others.
The accident was blamed on pilot error, according to Yahoo!
In 1972, Palestinian terrorists took members of the Israeli team hostage during the Munich Games in Germany.
Within a day, multiple athletes and coaches would be dead.
They entered the Israelis' rooms and killed two people almost immediately.
Police arrived, and negotiations began.
As theCBCexplained, the shocking event unfolded live, broadcast around the world.
A shootout ensued, and all the hostages and some of the terrorists were killed.
After just a 34-hour pause, the Olympic competitions resumed, asHistorynoted.
She led her women’s team to thefirst gold curling medal ever.
The rising athlete was also a mother of two when she was diagnosed with cancer in 1999.
Canada mourned as her funeral was broadcast live across the country, as noted by theCBC.
Would a helmet have saved Fabio Casartelli?
Italian cyclist Fabio Casartelli won the road race gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.
His death just three years later would take place during a different high-profile sporting event.
He was the third racer to die in the famed long-distance challenge since it began.
“I think the whole peloton froze that day,” team manager Jim Ochowicz toldVeloNews.
“This is a dangerous, tough sport, things like that can happen.
It’s a memory I’ll never forget.”
He was a national hero, and favored to win gold at the 2012 London Games, asESPNreported.
Teammates grew worried about his absence, and found him unconscious, half out of the tub.
Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
“Good night my love,” he wrote.
“I look forward to sleeping next to you again.”
He died on the scene at age 53.
Sadly, her violent, tragic death at age 31 will forever overshadow those accomplishments.
She went missing on October 28, 2015.
An ex-boyfriend, identified only as Dmitry, was charged with her murder.
Balykina was finally found nearly two weeks later in a forest near the capital city of Minsk.
Around 300 soldiers had been searching for her remains.
“Yulia came to my office,” the friend said.
The first was when she was 21 at the 2004 Athens Games in Greece.
She then went to Beijing in 2008, before taking time off to have her first daughter.
She finally won an Olympic medal silver in 2012 at London.
At age 33, she passed away from the disease.
“You’re no longer representing yourself.”
