--- title: These Athletes Have Died While Competing in the Olympics description: The Olympics are not for the feint of heart. While injuries can be expected at the Olympic Games, some died practicing or competing canonical: https://time.com/5155540/athletes-who-have-died-competing-in-the-olympics/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-13T23:40:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-01-15T18:48:28.000Z article:section: Sports og:title: These Athletes Have Died While Competing in the Olympics Over the Years og:description: Competing on the world stage is not without risk og:url: https://time.com/5155540/athletes-who-have-died-competing-in-the-olympics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt92d345eeb2fb73df/69892774929fad631abef9b8/has-anyone-ever-died-olympics.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Candles are lit in memory of luger Nodar og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Athletes Have Died While Competing in the Olympics Over the Years twitter:description: Competing on the world stage is not without risk twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt92d345eeb2fb73df/69892774929fad631abef9b8/has-anyone-ever-died-olympics.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Athletes Have Died While Competing in the Olympics Over the Years > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Updated: Jan 15, 2026 6:48 PM UTCPublished: Feb 13, 2018 11:40 PM UTC  Candles are lit in memory of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died on Feb. 12, 2010 in a crash during a training run of the Luge event of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at Whistler sliding center. Candles are lit in memory of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died on Feb. 12, 2010 in a crash during a training run of the Luge event of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at Whistler sliding center.Photo by Fabrice Coffrini—AFP/Getty Images by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Updated: Jan 15, 2026 6:48 PM UTCPublished: Feb 13, 2018 11:40 PM UTC With sports like skeleton, which sends competitors head-first down an ice track, and gymnastics, which hurtles athletes through the air, the Olympic Games are not for the faint of heart. And while [accidents and injuries are common](http://time.com/4442105/rio-2016-olympics-gymnastics-injury/) during competition, it’s rare that an athlete dies while competing in their sport. While some athletes have died at the Olympics due to illness, car crashes and even terrorism, these athletes died while competing in or practicing official Olympic sports at the Games. ## Winter Olympics ### 1964 – Ross Milne – Alpine Skiing Australian skier Ross Milne died after flying off the course and crashing into a tree while training at 1964’s Innsbruck Games in Austria. Initially, the International Olympic Committee claimed Milne was too young and inexperienced for the slope, [according to the Australian Olympic Committee.](http://corporate.olympics.com.au/athlete/ross-milne-12787) But Milne’s crash was caused by him swerving to avoid a crowd of contestants a spot on the course that was not meant for stopping. ### 1964 – Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki – Luge The same year that Milne died, British luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki was also killed in a training wreck, [according to the Washington _Post_.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/12/AR2010021203814.html) She was the only luger to die during the Olympics until 2010 when Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died, [according to the International Business Times.](http://www.ibtimes.com/difference-between-luge-skeleton-team-usas-emily-sweeny-crashes-luging-2653043) ### 2010 – Nodar Kumaritashvili – Lug**e** Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died before the Opening Ceremony in Vancouver, Canada, after losing control of his sled on a training run, and hitting a steel pole beside the track, [Reuters reported](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2018-luge-m-anniversary/luge-anniversary-of-georgians-death-to-hang-heavy-over-track-idUSKBN1FV0I4). In light of the accident, a wall was later raised and the ice profile of the track was altered. Reuters added that [lugers](http://time.com/5141141/google-doodle-snow-games/) also get more training runs to get a better feel on the track. The anniversary of Kumaritashvili’s death was noted on the luge track at the [2018 PyeongChang Games](http://time.com/5142825/pyeongchang-olympics-opening-ceremony-america-korea/) Monday. ## Summer Olympics ### 1912 – Francisco Lazaro – Marathon Runner Francisco Lazaro from Portugal died a day after he collapsed from sunstroke and heart trouble in a Stockholm hospital, [according to the Olympic Forum of Portugal](http://www.forumolimpico.org/francisco-lazaro), a center for Olympic studies founded by University of Lisbon professors. [_Dope: A History of Performance Enhancement in Sports from the Nineteenth Century to Today_](https://books.google.com/books?id=yCzbk7F8DGgC&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=Francisco+Lazaro+death&source=bl&ots=DpzNGJl3pG&sig=h0lUJts7kycxQJUJV5vogLMzCKU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiwsP360qPZAhUVHGMKHdARDkc4ChDoAQg0MAI#v=onepage&q=Francisco%20lazaro&f=false) notes that this was the first death of an athlete at the Olympics during a competition. Lazaro had run just over 19 miles prior to collapsing. ### 1960 – Knut Jensen – Cycling In the middle of a road race, Danish cyclist Knut Jensen collapsed and fractured his skull, CBS [reported](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/athlete-deaths-rare-during-olympics/). It was later revealed that Jensen had taken stimulants before the race. _Dope_ cites Jensen’s death as the first connected to performance enhancing drugs at the Olympics. However, about a year later, [the New York _Times_ reported](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9806E1DC123BE633A25755C2A9659C946091D6CF&legacy=true) that his cause of death was due to heatstroke. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5155540/athletes-who-have-died-competing-in-the-olympics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5155540/athletes-who-have-died-competing-in-the-olympics/"},"headline":"These Athletes Have Died While Competing in the Olympics Over the Years","datePublished":"2018-02-13T23:40:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-01-15T18:48:28.000Z","description":"Competing in the Olympics is not without risk","url":"https://time.com/5155540/athletes-who-have-died-competing-in-the-olympics/","keywords":["Winter Olympics","onetime","2018 Pyeongchang Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt92d345eeb2fb73df/69892774929fad631abef9b8/has-anyone-ever-died-olympics.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt92d345eeb2fb73df/69892774929fad631abef9b8/has-anyone-ever-died-olympics.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Candles are lit in memory of luger Nodar","caption":"Candles are lit in memory of luger Nodar","creditText":"Photo by Fabrice Coffrini—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5155540/athletes-who-have-died-competing-in-the-olympics/","name":"These Athletes Have Died While Competing in the Olympics Over the Years"}}]}] ```