Forever Young: Athletes Who Died in Their Mid-twenties

Steve Prefontaine (January 25, 1951 – May 30, 1975)

Credited for sparking the running boom in the 1970s, Steve Prefontaine was a long distance runner, who, at one point, held the American record in every running event from 2000 meters to 10,000 meters. He was killed in a vehicular accident at the age of 24 when he got trapped under his car that overturned after hitting a rock wall.

Brian Piccolo (October 31, 1943 – June 16, 1970)

Brian Piccolo was a professional football running back for the Chicago Bears from 1966 to 1969. Having withdrawn himself from a game in 1969 due to breathing difficulty, he was sent for a thorough medical examination and was diagnosed with embryonal cell carcinoma. Even after going through a series of surgery to remove the tumor and his left lung, the cancer eventually spread to other organs resulting in his demise at the age of 26.

Eddie Griffin (May 30, 1982 – August 17, 2007)

Eddie Griffin was an American professional basketball player, whose career was marked with attitude problems and alcoholism. A few months after being waived by his team due to his off-court troubles, he was burned to death at 25 years of age when he totally disregarded a railroad warning and crashed his SUV into a moving train.

Stanley Ketchel (September 14, 1886 – October 15, 1910)

(Stanley Ketchel and champion Jack Johnson fight for the Heavyweight Championship in California)

Widely considered to be one of the greatest world middleweight champions, American-Polish boxer Stanley Ketchel was best known for taking on opponents who outweighed him by more than 30 pounds. While eating breakfast at his friend’s house in Missouri, the 24-year-old Ketchel was fatally shot by a hired cook who wanted to get even by robbing him.

Alexander Beresch (October 12, 1977 – February 29, 2004)

(Floor exercise in the All-Around competition where he won bronze; and parallel bars routine during the team competition when he got a silver medal)

26-year old Ukrainian gymnast Alexander Beresch, the 2000 European all-around champion and 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze all-around medalist, was killed while driving through Kiev when his Peugeot was struck by a car speeding over 90 miles per hour.

Blaise Alexander (March 26, 1976 – October 4, 2001)

(Blaise Alexander dies in ARCA race at Lowes Motor Speedway)

Blaise Alexander was an American stock car racer who won the ARCA (Auto Racing Club of American) Rookie of the Year honors in 1996. His promising career abruptly ended during a race, when his car crashed into the outside of the retaining wall head-on along with one of his fellow competitor. He was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. He was 25.

David Di Tommaso (October 6, 1979 – November 29, 2005)

French footballer David Di Tommaso suffered a cardiac arrest in his sleep at age 26 in Netherlands. Since his death, the numbers 4 and 29, the numbers he worn for his team FC Utrecht and Sedan respectively, were retired from use. Furthermore, the player of the year trophy, which is voted by fans, was named in his honor.

Fabio Casartelli (August 16, 1970 – July 18, 1995)

As an Italian amateur competitive cyclist, Fabio Casartelli showed great promise by winning a gold medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics road race. However, his blossoming career came to an sudden halt when he crashed on the descent of the Col de Portet d’Aspet in the Pyrenees, sustaining heavy facial and head injuries during the 15th stage of the 1995 Tour de France. He was only 24.

Forever Young Series:

• MUSICIANS Who Died in Their:

  • Early Twenties
  • Mid-Twenties
  • Late Twenties

• ACTORS Who Died in Their:

  • Early Twenties
  • Mid-twenties
  • Late Twenties

• SPORTS PERSONALITIES Who Died in Their:
  • Early Twenties
  • Mid-Twenties
  • Late Twenties

• HISTORICAL PEOPLE Who Died in Their:

  • Early Twenties
  • Mid-Twenties
  • Late Twenties

More articles you might be interested in:

• 10 Bizarre Deaths in History
• 10 (more) Bizarre Deaths in History
• 10 (ultimate) Bizarre Deaths in History
• Unusual Wills and Testaments