August 26 1960
Knud Jensen, 23, Danish cyclist, collapses during the 100km team trial at the Olympic Games in Rome, fractures his skull and dies later in the day. In temperatures of about 40°C, 31 other cyclists suffer heatstroke. Jensen complained that he felt unwell earlier in the race. He is not cooled down immediately after his fall and lies unconscious in 50°C heat in a military hospital tent for two hours. The autopsy determines the cause of death as heatstroke and that no drugs were found in his body. However, the rumour mill jumps onto the “use of amphetamines” bandwagon. The IOC forms a medical commission in 1964 and starts drug testing at the 1968 (February) winter and (October) summer Olympics. Researchers feel
Jensen has been besmirched and exploited by anti-doping campaigners instead of honoured as a brave young Olympian whose death could have been avoided. They ask WADA to remove the “case” from its website. Reference: “The truth about Knud: revisiting an anti-doping myth” by Dr Paul Dimeo, associate professor in sports policy at the University of Stirling