GONE TOO SOON
Other star athletes who ran fast and died young
Lilian Board (1948-1970)
The South African-born Londoner became a national hero by winning silver in the 400m in Mexico, in 1968. Originally a long-jumper, she had only been racing at 400m for two years – but missed out on gold in the final strides of her Olympic final. The following year, she won gold at 800m and 4x400m at the European Championships and she had high hopes of adding an Olympic gold medal to her collection in 1972. Sadly, she died of cancer in December 1970, shortly after her 22nd birthday.
Steve Prefontaine (1951-1975)
The charismatic American was perhaps the bestknown face of the 1970s running boom and his fans still speculate about what he might have achieved had fate been less cruel. His flowing blond hair, good looks, extrovert manner and fearless front running earned him a cult following and many friends. Fans wore ‘Go Pre’ T-shirts and encouraged him with chants of ‘Pre! Pre! Pre!’
Prefontaine, who held US records at seven distances, led for most of the final mile of the Olympic 5000m at Munich in 1972, but missed out at the finish, coming fourth. He never got a chance to put things right in Montreal in 1976. On May 30, 1975, he died in a car crash near his home in Eugene, Oregon. He was 24.
Ivo Van Damme (1954-1976)
Van Damme should arguably also be included in our Dazzling debuts on page 61. Aged 22, he won two middle-distance silvers in his first Olympics, in Montreal in 1976. The tall, bearded Van Damme was the best Belgian athlete for decades. In Montreal, he was unfortunate to come up against two exceptional runners: Cuba’s Alberto Juantorena (in the 800m) and New Zealand’s John Walker (in the 1500m). He died in a car crash in the south of France a few months later, aged 22. A Memorial Van Damme event (now the final event of the Diamond League season) was established in Brussels the following year.
Francisco Lázaro (1891-1912)
The leading Portuguese runner of the early
20th century, Lázaro, a carpenter, was 21 when he carried his nation’s flag at the opening of the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. Nine days later, he became the first athlete to die during a modern Olympic event, after collapsing 19 miles into the marathon. He had smeared much of his body with suet to protect him from sunburn and, as a result, could not sweat properly. He is thought to have died of electrolyte imbalance, although his 41C body temperature cannot have helped. He is reputed to have said before the race, ‘Either I win or I die.’