Ex- OSU gymnast dies after accident

A former Ohio State University gymnast died Monday of injuries he suffered when hit by a truck last week, according to Columbus police.

Larry Mayer, 24, was driving on the ramp from southbound Interstate 71 to westbound Interstate 270 in northern Franklin County when he lost control of his car, ran off the right side of the road and down an embankment and struck several trees just after 2 a. m. Thursday.

Mayer got out of his 2016 Toyota Corolla, walked back up to the ramp and was struck by a passing truck. Mayer was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m. Monday.

“Larry was the kind of guy that brightened the whole room wherever he was. His infectious attitude had a positive impact on those he interacted with on a daily basis,” OSU gymnastics coach Rustam Sharipov said in a post on the team’s website. “Our gymnastics family is hurting right now, Larry was such a special person.”

Mayer, who was from Indiana, was a university athlete from 2012 to 2015. He competed on the parallel bars and vault and was a two-time Academic All- Big Ten selection and a three-time Ohio State Scholar- Athlete. Mayer had a career best of 15.800 on the vault, which was the highest score by a Buckeye between 2013 and 2016.

Mayer’s death was the 17th traffic fatality in Columbus this year. Seven of those 17 deaths, or 41 percent, were pedestrian fatalities, said Columbus Police Sgt. Brooke Wilson.

Of those seven fatal pedestrian accidents, six occurred at night, and two happened on freeways when drivers got out of their vehicles.

Mayer is the youngest pedestrian killed this year. The oldest was 66.