Athletes who died from war

War is a fact of life.  Here are some athletes who died from war.

Eric Liddel

(remember him in Chariots Of Fire?). A year after winning the 400m at the 1924 Olympics, Liddel joined his father in China to do a  missionary work. He died of a brain tumor in a Japanese interment camp in China during World War II.  Liddell, a devout Christian refused to run in the 100m heats because it was held on a Sunday and spent the day delivering a sermon at a Scottish church in Paris.  He finished third in the 200m and won the gild in the 400m).

Luz Long

of Germany , 1936 Berlin Olympics Silver medalist (long jump) and great friend  to American star Jessie Owens, was killed in the Battle of St. Pietro on July 14, 1943. To recall, Owens had trouble in the long jump, fouling on two  attempts.  Before his final attempt, Luz gave some tips to Owens in full view of Adolf Hitler.  Owens made the jump and battled Long for the gold.  Owens won and set a new record of 26 feet  while Long settled for the silver.

Laurie Doherty

 Wimbledon champion from 1902 to 1906, died serving for the Air Ministry during  World War I.

Ron Zinn

sixth placer in the 20,000m walk in the 1984 L.A. Olympics, was killed in the Vietnam War, less than nine months later at age 26.

Alfred Flawtow

of Germany , Oympic gold medalist in the parallel bars (gymnastics) in 1896, was exterminated in a German concentration camp in 1945.

Attila Petschauer

Hungarian gold medalist in the Olympic team saber competitions in 1928 and 1932, was tortured to death in 1943 while  fighting in Ukraine.

Jean  Bouin of France and George Hutson of Great Britain

The silver and bronze medalists, respectively, in the 1912 Olympic 5,000 run, were both killed in action in 1914.

Torger Tokle

Norwegian-born American ski-jumper who  broke 24 records in his career, was killed while fighting with the U.S Army in Italy in 1945.

Anthony Wilding

A four-time Wimbledon winner (1910-13) from New Zealand, was killed in action at Neeve Chapelle, France, in 1915 at age 31.

Endre Kabos

Hungarian Olympic gold medalist in the saber in 1936, was killed when the Budapest Margaret Bridge blew up in World War II.

Freddie Tait

The British amateur golf champion in 1896 and 1898 died in the Boer War.

NOTE: CLINT EASTWOOD,  now 92 years old , was drafted in 1951 but en route to Korea, his plane crashed.  He swam miles to shore and was made a swimming instructor.  He was elected mayor of Carmel, CA in 1986 and reelected in 1988.  Eastwood became famous  with  his Dirty Harry series after starting in spaghetti westerns.

Did you know?

Lakers and Jazz

A lot of people wondered why the Los Angeles Lakers are called Lakers when there are very few lakes in the LA  area.  However, if you go back to  its  history, the franchise actually began in 1947-1948 as the Minneapolis Lakers. Minneapolis is situated in Minnesota, a state that proudly bears the nickname “Land of 10,000 Lakes.  When the Lakers moved to Los Angeles, they didn’t bother to change their name. The other LA team is the Clippers, formerly based in San Diego, California. On the other hand, Utah got their team via New Orleans, famous for its Mardi Gras and  all that Jazz in 1974.  When the team moved  to Utah in 1979,officials decided to retain the nickname. Utah is rather a conservative city since its home to the Mormons.