Know Your Olympics: Stockholm Olympics 1912

Francisco Lazaro's death -

Francisco Lazaro - The only athlete to die during an Olympic race

Shizo Kanakuri was lucky but not everyone came off so fortunate. The early Olympic marathons took place under extremely grueling conditions. Following Paris 1900, conditions grew from bad to worse. During London 1908, Italy's Dorando Pietri was helped more than once by officials in reaching the finish line. As a result, he was disqualified, even though it wasn't his fault.

However, the grueling heat in Sweden took its toll on Francisco Lazaro. A Portuguese carpenter, he participated in the marathon event and died after collapsing at the 30km mark.

Initially, it was perceived that Lázaro was suffering from severe dehydration due to the high temperature registered at the time of the race. However, it was also learnt that Lázaro had covered large portions of his body with suet, a kind of meat wax, to prevent sunburn. Instead, it created an electrolyte imbalance that ended up proving fatal.