At the modernOlympic Games, as of the conclusion of the2024 Summer Paralympics[update], eight Olympic or Paralympic athletes and six horses have died as a result of competing in or practicing their sport at Games venues; three other deaths were potentially a result of competition. In addition, another 16 participants have died at the Olympics from other causes; 11 of these deaths were from theMunich massacre.
Several incidents related to the Olympics have caused the death of non-participants. Large numbers were killed during theLima football riot of 1964 and theTlatelolco massacre in Mexico City in 1968. TheCentennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Games caused two deaths.
Legény (11) (ridden byIstván Visy), HUN1936, Berlin – euthanised after breaking a leg at fence four, The Pond.[3] Legény was one of 3 horses euthanised because of injuries at the obstacle.[4]
Iller (12) (ridden byJohan Asker), SWE1956, Stockholm – euthanised after breaking a leg on the cross country course[6]
Mures II (ridden byAndrei Cadar), ROU1960, Rome – collapsed and died after finishing the cross country course[7]
Over and Over (ridden byJoris Vanspringel), BEL2004, Athens – suffered a fracture of the left femur during the cross-country portion of the event. The horse was euthanized when veterinarians concluded that the injury could not be repaired.[8]
Jet Set (14) (ridden byRobin Godel), SUI2020, Tokyo – euthanised after pulling up extremelylame on the Sea Forest cross-country course[9][10]
David Bratton (35) andGeorge Van Cleaf (25), United States –Water polo andswimming –1904, St. Louis. The artificial lake created in the middle of the World’s Fair for the lifesaving exhibition was also used for livestock exhibits. Cattle at these exhibits grazed around and stood in the lake, and the water polo and swimming events were held at the other end of the lake. Within four months of the water polo and swimming events, Bratton and Van Cleaf died from typhoid fever. Each competed in water polo and the 4 x 50 yards freestyle relay.[12][13][14]
Nicolae Berechet (20), Romania –Boxing –1936, Berlin. Berechet died three days after losing his bout againstEvald Seeberg. His death was officially recorded as being due toblood poisoning, but it has been suggested that damage caused in the fight may have been a factor in his death.[15][16]
Ignaz Stiefsohn (25), Austria –Gliding (demonstration event) – 1936, Berlin. Stiefsohn was killed on 3 August when his glider broke a wing and crashed during practice.[17]
Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki (58), Britain –Luge –1964, Innsbruck. Kay-Skrzypecki died one day after a luge crash during practice at Innsbruck, which occurred eight days before the opening of the Games.[19]
Edmond Brassart [it], (30), France –Fencing –1900, Paris – Brassard was killed alongside three others in the collapse of thePasserelle des Invalides, a temporary bridge built for theExposition Universelle of 1900. This occurred two months after he participated in the Olympic Games but also two months before the Games concluded.[22][23]
Arrigo Menicocci, Italianrower who competed ineights, was killed as a passenger in a car crash about 90 km northwest of Melbourne during the Olympics on 1 December 1956, four days after the end of the rowing competition.[25]
Between the morning and afternoon runs of themen's giant slalom, Jörg Oberhammer, 47, the Austrian team doctor, was skiing on a recreational slope when he collided with another skier (aCTV technician) and was knocked under a snow-grooming machine, which crushed him instantly.[26][27]
German Olympic canoe slalom coach and Olympic silver-medalistStefan Henze, 35, died on 15 August 2016 after his taxi was hit in a high-speed head-on collision in Rio three days earlier.[28]
The Chinese coach of the Vietnamese Olympic swim team, Huang Guohui, 57, was suspected to have died by suicide whilst being held under COVID-19 quarantine in Hanoi following the return from Tokyo.[29]
The coach of the Samoan boxing team,Lionel Elika Fatupaito, died on 26 July 2024 in the Olympic Village due to cardiac arrest when he was leaving the Olympic Village to attend the opening ceremony.[30]
Deaths of non-participants at Olympic-related events
In a qualifying match for theOlympic football tournament, home fans began rioting after a late Peru goal was disallowed. Police firedtear gas into the crowd, exacerbating the situation, which ended with at least 328 deaths.[31]
TheMexico 68 protests were part ofa worldwide series of leftwing student-led protests. While the protestingNational 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 thePlaza de las Tres Culturas making arrests. Estimates of the number killed in the operation range from thirty to several hundred.
In addition to the 11 Israeli Olympic Team members who died, West German police officerAnton Fliegerbauer and five Palestinian terrorists were killed during a shootout. Carmel Eliash, cousin ofMoshe Weinberg, had a heart attack during the public memorial service the following day.[32]
Hyginus Anugo, 22, of Nigeria, a4 × 400 metres relay reserve, was killed after being struck by a car while crossing a street in Sydney eight days before the Games opened.[34] He did not have Olympic accreditation and was not staying at the Olympic athletes' village. Anugo was with the team training in Adelaide, where final selections for relay squads were made, and was not selected. He had been due to return to Nigeria but had voluntarily proceeded to Sydney.
Seven teenagers fromFarkadona were killed in a crash while travelling to Athens for the Games, when their bus collided with a truck near the town ofKamena Vourla. Out of respect for their deaths, the cultural portion of the closing ceremonies of these Paralympics was cancelled.[35][36]
^Kuningas, Tiit;Tiit Lääne (2005).Olümpiamängude ajalugu II, suvemängud 1920–1944 [History of the Olympic Games II, Summer Games 1920–1944] (in Estonian).Tallinn: Maalehe Raamat.ISBN9985-64-255-4.(in Estonian)
^Wurm, H. (March 1988)."In Memoriam Dr. Jörg Oberhammer"(PDF).Buko-Info (in German) (2). Bundeskonferenz des wissenschaftlichen und künstlerischen Personals der österreichischen Universitäten und Kunsthochschulen: 2. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 4 March 2016.
