Olympic and Paralympic deaths

At the modern Olympic Games, up to and including the 2016 Summer Paralympics, nine athletes have died while either competing in or practicing their sport. In addition, another 14 participants have died at the Olympics from other causes; 11 of these deaths resulted from the Munich massacre of 1972.

Several incidents related to the Olympics have caused the death of non-participants. Large numbers were killed during the Lima football riot of 1964 and the Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico City in 1968. The Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Games caused two deaths.

In competition during the Olympics

• Francisco Lázaro (21), Portugal – Runner – 1912, Stockholm – electrolyte imbalance^[1]
• Knut Jensen (23), Denmark – Cyclist – 1960, Rome – heat stroke^[2]

In competition during the Paralympics

• Bahman Golbarnezhad (48), Iran – Cyclist – 2016, Rio de Janeiro – cardiac arrest following crash ^[3]

During Olympic practice or after Olympic competition

• Nicolae Berechet (20), Romania – Boxer – 1936, Berlin – Berechet died four days after losing his bout against Evald Seeberg. His death was officially recorded as being due to blood poisoning, but it has been suggested that damage caused in the fight may have been a factor in his death.^[4][5]
• Ignaz Stiefsohn, Austria - Gliding (demonstration event) – 1936, Berlin - killed when his glider crashed during practice.^[6]
• Ross Milne (19), Australia – Downhill Skiing – 1964, Innsbruck – Ski collision in practice.^[7]
• Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki, Britain – Luge – 1964, Innsbruck – Luge crash in practice.^[8]
• Nicolas Bochatay (27), Switzerland – Speed Skiing (demonstration sport) – 1992, Albertville – collided with a snow machine in practice.^[9]
• Hyginus Anugo (22), Nigeria - 4 × 400 metres relay reserve - 2000, Sydney - struck by a vehicle while training.^[10]
• Nodar Kumaritashvili (21), Georgia – Luge – 2010, Vancouver – Luge crash in practice.^[11]

Other Olympic deaths

London 1948

In 1948, during the London Olympics, Eliška Misáková, one of nine members of the Czechoslovak women's team in gymnastics, became ill on arrival in the host city. Diagnosed with polio, she died on the last day of the Olympics, the same day her remaining teammates won the competition.^[12]

Melbourne 1956

Arrigo Menicocci, Italian rower who competed in eights, was killed in a car crash in Melbourne on 1 December 1956.^[13]

Munich 1972

In 1972, during the Munich Olympics, 11 members of the Israeli team were killed during a terrorist attack by Palestinian terrorists called Black September.

The 11 Israeli Olympic Team members who were murdered in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich are:

• Mark Slavin, 18, Wrestler
• Eliezer Halfin, 24, Wrestler
• David Mark Berger, 28, Weightlifter
• Ze'ev Friedman, 28, Weightlifter
• Yossef Romano, 32, Weightlifter
• Andre Spitzer, 27, Fencing coach
• Moshe Weinberg, 33, Wrestling coach
• Amitzur Shapira, 40, Track coach
• Yossef Gutfreund, 40, Wrestling referee
• Yakov Springer, 51, Weightlifting judge
• Kehat Shorr, 53, Shooting coach

Calgary 1988

Between the morning and afternoon runs of the men's giant slalom, Jörg Oberhammer, 47, the Austrian team doctor, was skiing on a recreational slope when he collided with another skier (a CTV technician) and was knocked under a snow-grooming machine, which crushed him instantly.^[14][15]

Deaths of non-participants at Olympic-related events

Lima 1964

In a qualifying match for the Olympic football tournament, home fans began rioting after a late Peru goal was disallowed. Police fired tear gas into the crowd, exacerbating the situation, which ended with 318 deaths.

Mexico 1968

The Mexico 68 protests were part of a worldwide series of leftwing student-led protests. While the protesting National Strike Council claimed not to link its demands to the Olympics, some students protested at the perceived extravagance of hosting the games, and some sought to exploit the increased foreign media presence in the city for publicity. The authoritarian government had a secret "Olympia Battalion" to ensure security during the Games. Ten days before the games, the unit swept through a mass meeting in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas making arrests. Estimates of the number killed in the operation range from thirty to several hundred.

1996 Olympic Park Bombing

On July 27, 1996 (the eighth day of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games), a bomb exploded at the Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, killing two and wounding over 111 people.

Athens 2004 Paralympics

Seven teenagers from Farkadona were killed in a crash whilst travelling to Athens for the Games, when their bus collided with a truck near the town of Kamena Vourla. Out of respect for their death, the cultural portion of the closing ceremonies of these Paralympics were cancelled.^[16][17]

London 2012

On 1 August 2012, a special bus carrying media from the London Olympic Park was involved in a collision in which a cyclist was killed.^[18]

On 3 August 2012, a man died of a heart problem after collapsing in the toilets of the Velodrome in the Olympic park.^[19]

Rio de Janeiro 2016

On 5 August, shortly after the 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, a mugger was shot and killed near Maracanã Stadium. Hours earlier, a woman was killed near another Olympic site. She was attacked by three muggers and shot in the head and killed.^[20]

German Olympic coach Stefan Henze died on 15 August 2016 after his taxi was hit in a high-speed head-on collision in Rio.^[21]

References

Olympic Games
Ceremonies Charter Participating nations Summer Olympics Winter Olympics Host cities Bids Venues IOC NOCs Country codes Medal Medal tables Medalists Diploma Scandals and controversies Colonialism Doping Sports Symbols Torch relays Pierre de Coubertin medal Women Deaths WWI
Summer Games	1896 Athens 1900 Paris 1904 St. Louis 1908 London 1912 Stockholm 1916 1920 Antwerp 1924 Paris 1928 Amsterdam 1932 Los Angeles 1936 Berlin 1940 1944 1948 London 1952 Helsinki 1956 Melbourne 1960 Rome 1964 Tokyo 1968 Mexico City 1972 Munich 1976 Montreal 1980 Moscow 1984 Los Angeles 1988 Seoul 1992 Barcelona 1996 Atlanta 2000 Sydney 2004 Athens 2008 Beijing 2012 London 2016 Rio de Janeiro 2020 Tokyo 2024 2028
Winter Games	1924 Chamonix 1928 St. Moritz 1932 Lake Placid 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1940 1944 1948 St. Moritz 1952 Oslo 1956 Cortina 1960 Squaw Valley 1964 Innsbruck 1968 Grenoble 1972 Sapporo 1976 Innsbruck 1980 Lake Placid 1984 Sarajevo 1988 Calgary 1992 Albertville 1994 Lillehammer 1998 Nagano 2002 Salt Lake City 2006 Turin 2010 Vancouver 2014 Sochi 2018 Pyeongchang 2022 Beijing 2026
Ancient Olympic Games Intercalated Games 1906 Paralympic Games Youth Olympic Games