Athletes who died too soon (Part 3)
This is the third part of a series of articles discussing shocking and tragic deaths in the world of general sports.
Mel Blasberg said that his daughter was not having and financial problems, was not clinically depressed and was happy with her recent performances.
More than three months later, the coroner’s office released the autopsy report of Erica Blasberg. They said that the main cause of death was asphyxia, which is suffocation in her case, along with some other prescription drugs that were called a “significant
factor,” but Nevada law does not allow details about the amounts of medication to be released. Blasberg had many different types of foreign substances in her body, a total of six, once of which was aprazolam, the main content of Xanax.
Police in Henderson, Nevada said that although they did not suspect any foul play, they still arrested Hess for obstruction of justice. Hess admitted to removing prescription pills and a suicide note from the scene of the suicide “to spare the family embarrassment.”
He pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and one year probation. The reason behind the suicide is still unknown. Blasberg was 25 years old.
Next we have Nodar Kumaritashvili, a luger from Georgia. He first began to luge when he was 13 years old, coming from a family of lugers. Little did he know that his Olympic debut would also be his finale. Since he had raced in at least five World Cup races,
he was eligible for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. On February 12, Kumaritashvili was training at the Whistler Sliding Centre when he lost control of his luge and was thrown off over the sidewall and into an unprotected steel support
pole at 143.6 km/h.
Medics immediately attended to Kumaritashvili and performed CPR. He was airlifted to a hospital, where he did not survive his injuries. It was the first death in luge in 35 years but Kumaritashvili became the fourth athlete to die during preparations for
the Winter Olympics. Luger Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski of Great Britain and skier Ross Milne of Australia both died during the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. The other was speed skier Nicolas Bochatay from Switzerland, who died in the 1992 Winter Olympics
in Albertville.
After news of Kumaritashvili’s death was spread, there was grief and distress in Georgia. The Georgian team initially wanted to withdraw from the games but then decided that they would “dedicate their efforts to their fallen comrade.” A moment of silence
was held during the opening ceremonies and flags were lower to half staff, not just in the stadium but through all of British Columbia.
Four days after the incident, Kumaritashvili’s body arrived in Georgia. He was buried at his childhood church and his funeral feast was attended by thousands, including the Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili. It was later determined that there was no
problem with the track or sled but instead driver error. FIL Secretary General Svein Romstad summarized: "What happened to Nodar has been an unforeseeable fatal accident.” He was 21 years old.
To see who else died when they were at their peak and whose death came as a surprise to everyone involved, check out the next article.
Continued in Part 4…
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