Francisco Lázaro (21 January 1888 – 15 July 1912) was a Portuguese

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

runner and Portugal's

standard-bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...

in their first-ever participation at the Olympic Games, the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden.

Like all the Olympic athletes of his time, Lázaro was an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

sportsman, and his actual job was as a carpenter in an automobile factory in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

. Prior to the Olympics, he had won three national marathon championships in Portugal, where he represented

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional association football, football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese footba ...

. Lázaro was the first athlete to die during a modern Olympic event, after collapsing at the 30-kilometer mark (19 miles) of the marathon with a body temperature of 41 °C (105.8° F), The cause of death was initially thought to be severe

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water, with an accompanying disruption of metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds free water intake, usually due to exercise, disease, or high environmental temperature. Mil ...

due to the high temperature registered at the time of the race. Later it was discovered that Lázaro had covered large portions of his body with

suet Suet is the raw, hard fat of beef, lamb or mutton found around the loins and kidneys. Suet has a melting point of between 45 °C and 50 °C (113 °F and 122 °F) and congelation between 37 °C and 40 °C (98.6&nbs ...

to prevent

sunburn Sunburn is a form of radiation burn that affects living tissue, such as skin, that results from an overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, usually from the Sun. Common symptoms in humans and animals include: red or reddish skin that is ho ...

and to help with speed and lightness while running; but eventually the wax restricted the athlete's natural

perspiration Perspiration, also known as sweating, is the production of fluids secreted by the sweat glands in the skin of mammals. Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distrib ...

, leading to a fatal body fluid

electrolyte imbalance Electrolyte imbalance, or water-electrolyte imbalance, is an abnormality in the concentration of electrolytes in the body. Electrolytes play a vital role in maintaining homeostasis in the body. They help to regulate heart and neurological function, ...

. Before the race, he had supposedly said: "Either I win or I die." The following weekend, a memorial service for Lázaro was attended by 23,000 people at the Olympic Stadium. Approximately $US 3,800 was collected for his wife, and later a monument of Lázaro was placed at the marathon's turning point at Sollentuna, Stockholm. His name was given to a street in Lisbon and to the home stadium of football club C.F. Benfica. The novel ''The Piano Cemetery'', by Portuguese novelist

José Luís Peixoto José Luís Marques Peixoto (; born September 4, 1974) is a Portuguese author, poet and playwright. A professional writer since 2001, his works have been translated into more than 30 languages. Biography José Luis Peixoto was born in the villa ...

, is based on Francisco Lázaro's story.Le Guin, Ursula
"''The Piano Cemetery'' by José Luís Peixoto – review"
''The Guardian'', 19 February 2011. FLazaro

Media appearances

Lázaro appears briefly, and his death is noted, in the fil
''The Games of the V Olympiad Stockholm, 1912''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazaro, Francisco 1888 births 1912 deaths Portuguese male marathon runners Sport deaths in Sweden Olympic athletes of Portugal Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic deaths S.L. Benfica athletes Athletes from Lisbon Sports competitors who died in competition Carpenters

See also

Media appearances

References