I'm trying to perspectivate Sammy with this:
- Lilian Board, 400 silver medalist in '68; cancer at 22
-Prefontaine; car crash
-Ivo Van Damme, double silver medalist 800/1500 in '76 age 22; car crash
-Lou Gehrig MLB great; ALS
-Wolfgang Gullich, rock climber with hardest routes in the world; car crash
-'80's College hoop star whose name escapes me atm; heart failure on court
Others???
Reggie Lewis and Len Bias both of the Celtics.
Pelle Lindbergh, goalie for the Flyers in 1985.
Car crash, age 26.
Ryan Shay.
Sally Meyerhoff, March 2011.
Derek Boogaard, NY Rangers (hockey) enforcer, 28, found dead last Friday, cause not yet reported
Dan Snyder, Atlanta Thrashers, 25, 2003 car crash in vehicle driven by current star Dany Heatley
Gehrig was nearing the end of his career - just sped up by the effects of ALS.
Len Bias, UMD basketball superstar - drugs
Hank Gathers might be the guy you mentioned that died on the court.
1958 Munich - 7 of the Manchester Utd Football team died in an air crash
long live sally wrote:
Sally Meyerhoff, March 2011.
Good god. Pete, the dude who won the local fun run died too.
Dale Earnhardt, Sr
Seth says this... wrote:Pete, the dude who won the local fun run died too.Fair comment. I guess I read the topic as athletes who died at their peak instead of those who were at/near the best in their sport. My bad.
Robert "Tractor" Traylor
George Mallory
Oh You Know wrote:
Robert "Tractor" Traylor
+1, he was at the peak of his athletic abilities.
Actually he died below the top. His body was found at around 27,000 feet.
Payne Stewart
Thurman Munson
Alan Kulwicki
Jimi Hendrix
Justin Time wrote:
Dale Earnhardt, Sr
I believe the category was athletes, not people who drove cars.
Bronislaw Malinowski - '81 car crash
*rimshot*
Irvine wrote:
Actually he died below the top. His body was found at around 27,000 feet.
Getting into the area of Alpinists, the list is extensive. Short list of Top Dawgs who didn't make return trips alive in addition to Mallory: Toni Kurz, Hermann Buhl, Dougal Haston, Jerzy Kukuzcka.
Also, for runners add Rudolph Harbig, 1:46 800WR in 1939; dead by Russian bullet in 1944.
John White - soccer star killed by lightning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_White_
(footballer_born_1937)
Roberto Clemente.
can't believe OP mentioned Wolfgang Gullrich. He was my first thought after Pre.