Economy
Hungarian Olympic champion canoeist Kolonics dies at the age of 36 (2)
Save article
Share
(Adds details by coach)
György Kolonics, Hungary's two-time Olympic gold medallist canoeist, has died on Tuesday at the age of 36. The cause of death was heart failure.
Kolonics lost consciousness during training on Tuesday morning and while they tried to resuscitate him on shore, the arriving paramedics could not help him either and were only able to pronounce him dead, said Etele Baráth, President of the Hungarian Kayak and Canoe Association.
Kolonics was training for his fifth Olympic Games to take place between August 8 and 24 in Beijing, China.
The canoeist won four Olympic medals, two gold - in C-2, 500 m in Atlanta in 1996 and in C-1, 500 m in Sydney in 2000 - and two bronze - in C-2, 1,000 m in Atlanta and in C-2, 1,000 m in Athens in 2004.
Kolonics also had outstanding success at the Flatwater Racing World Championships. No other paddler currently in competition can match his record of fifteen World Championship gold medals.
He also won three European titles - C-1 1,000 m (1997), C-1 500 m (2001) and C-2 500 m (2004).
He would have been the partner of György Kozmann in Beijing, with whom he won the bronze medal in Athens four years ago, both on 500 and 1,000 metres.
How it happened?
They fought for Kolonics's life for an hour, until it was clear that there was no help, said Róbert Ludasi, who has been the Olympic champion's coach for 22 years.
Ludasi told local newswire MTI that they had a C-2 (double) practice. “Kolonics (and his partner György Kozmann) warned up well and paddled five or six kilometres. Then they paddled 1,000 metres, which went well and then we were about to start a 500. It was fine too, but then Kolo asked me to come over because he was feeling dizzy. I told him to sit on the motorboat and then to lie down on his back. I saw from the colour of his face that he was really sick. It seemed he could not breathe. I urged Gyuri Kozmann to start pumping his chest and then we blew air into his nose, while I was shouting to the shore for an ambulance," the 56-year old coach said, shattered.
It took the paramedics 37 minutes to get to the scene. While there is a new station nearby, they have no ambulance equipped with life-saving equipment.
“When the paramedics finally came, they continued the resuscitation and even inserted an IV into Gyuri, but there was nothing that could have saved him," Ludasi added.
He said Kolonics always took care of himself and visited the doctor every time he felt something was wrong. The last time he went for a check-up was last week.
Reporters from TV and radio stations and journalists have asked the coach whether doping might be in the background of this tragedy.
“(To these questions) I can only say that Gyuri was tested (for doping) six or eight times this year only," Ludasi said.
György Kolonics, Hungary's two-time Olympic gold medallist canoeist, has died on Tuesday at the age of 36. The cause of death was heart failure.
Kolonics lost consciousness during training on Tuesday morning and while they tried to resuscitate him on shore, the arriving paramedics could not help him either and were only able to pronounce him dead, said Etele Baráth, President of the Hungarian Kayak and Canoe Association.
Kolonics was training for his fifth Olympic Games to take place between August 8 and 24 in Beijing, China.
The canoeist won four Olympic medals, two gold - in C-2, 500 m in Atlanta in 1996 and in C-1, 500 m in Sydney in 2000 - and two bronze - in C-2, 1,000 m in Atlanta and in C-2, 1,000 m in Athens in 2004.
Kolonics also had outstanding success at the Flatwater Racing World Championships. No other paddler currently in competition can match his record of fifteen World Championship gold medals.
He also won three European titles - C-1 1,000 m (1997), C-1 500 m (2001) and C-2 500 m (2004).
He would have been the partner of György Kozmann in Beijing, with whom he won the bronze medal in Athens four years ago, both on 500 and 1,000 metres.
How it happened?
They fought for Kolonics's life for an hour, until it was clear that there was no help, said Róbert Ludasi, who has been the Olympic champion's coach for 22 years.
Ludasi told local newswire MTI that they had a C-2 (double) practice. “Kolonics (and his partner György Kozmann) warned up well and paddled five or six kilometres. Then they paddled 1,000 metres, which went well and then we were about to start a 500. It was fine too, but then Kolo asked me to come over because he was feeling dizzy. I told him to sit on the motorboat and then to lie down on his back. I saw from the colour of his face that he was really sick. It seemed he could not breathe. I urged Gyuri Kozmann to start pumping his chest and then we blew air into his nose, while I was shouting to the shore for an ambulance," the 56-year old coach said, shattered.
It took the paramedics 37 minutes to get to the scene. While there is a new station nearby, they have no ambulance equipped with life-saving equipment.
“When the paramedics finally came, they continued the resuscitation and even inserted an IV into Gyuri, but there was nothing that could have saved him," Ludasi added.
He said Kolonics always took care of himself and visited the doctor every time he felt something was wrong. The last time he went for a check-up was last week.
Reporters from TV and radio stations and journalists have asked the coach whether doping might be in the background of this tragedy.
“(To these questions) I can only say that Gyuri was tested (for doping) six or eight times this year only," Ludasi said.
