By John Smith • Published: 18 Sep 2016 • 10:34
Bahman Golbarnezhad competing in Rio
WITH Britain winning a record number of medals in the Rio Paralympic games and coming second after China, all of the celebrations became muted after the news that Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad aged 48 had died from a cardiac arrest following a collision with another cyclist during a race on September 17.
He was alive when the ambulance arrived and rushed to a local hospital but sadly the cyclist who had competed in the London Games died soon after being taken into the emergency room.
The Iranian flag has been lowered to half-mast in the Paralympic Village and a period of silence will be observed during the closing ceremony on Sunday September 18.
The BBC reported that Masoud Ashrafi, the secretary general of Iran’s National Paralympic Committee, said it had requested the body of Golbarnezhad be flown to Iran on Sunday. The Committee also asked for a full report of the incident from the IPC.
This is the first death during a competition at a summer Olympics or Paralympics since Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen in the 100km team time trial at the 1960 Rome Olympics although 11 Israeli hostages were killed during the 1972 Munich Olympics by terrorists.
Share this story
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don't already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Married to Ophelia in Gibraltar in 1978, John has spent much of his life travelling on security print and minting business and visited every continent except Antarctica. Having retired several years ago, the couple moved to their house in Estepona and John became a regular news writer for the EWN Media Group taking particular interest in Finance, Gibraltar and Costa del Sol Social Scene. Currently he is acting as Editorial Consultant for the paper helping to shape its future development. Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Download our media pack in either English or Spanish.