Olympic javelin thrower, 26, from Argentina dies in a motorcycle crash months before he hoped to compete in the Tokyo games
- Braian Toledo died in a motorcycle accident in Marco Paz, Argentina
- Police said Toledo drove over a speed bump and crashed into two palm trees
- The 26-year-old javelin thrower was pronounced dead at the scene
- He returned to Argentina last week after spending several months in Finland training for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games
- Toledo was rehabbing from a 2019 ankle operation after tearing four ligaments
- Toledo won the gold medal at the 2017 South American Championships a year after placing 10th at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games
A javelin thrower looking forward to competing in the 2020 Olympic Games died in a motorcycle accident in Argentina on Wednesday night.
Braian Toledo, 26, was traveling from the city of Marco Paz to Merlo when he lost control of the motorbike after he drove over a speed bump and crashed into two palm trees, according to police reports. He died at the scene, police said.
The crash knocked down two trees, including one that had to be removed from the scene, police said.
Toledo returned to Argentina last week after spending several months in Finland with a trainer preparing for the Tokyo Olympic Games in July.
According to Argentine newspaper La Nación, Toledo was working with other young athletes who expected to represent the South American nation in the 2022 Dakar Youth Olympic Games.
Braian Toledo, who was looking forward to representing Argentina as a javelin thrower in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, died Wednesday night in a motorcycle accident in the city of Marco Paz
Toledo won the gold medal at the 2017 South American Championships a year after placing 10th at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, the best finish by an Argentine since Ricardo Héber at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympics
Girlfriend Sofía Lamarque (right), a member of Argentina’s shooting national team, lauded Braian Toledo’s (left) humbleness and for the ‘great athlete he was’
‘It is truly is incredible. I still can’t believe it. It seems like a dream,’ said Sofía Lamarque, Toledo’s girlfriend, who is a member of Argentina’s shooting national team.
‘I can only say that should be remembered as the great athlete he was, but mostly because of the great person he was. Always so humble, thinking of others. I keep the best memories, I’m happy to have met him and shared these last moments with him’.
Toledo made a name for himself when he won gold at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. He netted gold medals at the South American Under-23 Championships in 2012 and 2014, and struck gold once again at the 2017 South American Championships.
The promising javelin thrower placed 10th in the medal round of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the best finish by an Argentine since Ricardo Héber at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympics.
Braian Toledo couldn’t compete in 2019 after undergoing a right ankle operation after tearing four ligaments. He had struck gold at the 2017 South American Championships
Toledo couldn’t compete in 2019 after undergoing a right ankle operation after tearing four ligaments. However, he was expected to qualify for the upcoming Summer Games.
‘I’m thinking about the Olympic Games, of course, it’s still my big dream, but I don’t lose sight of every step I take and I’m happy every day, with my family, my girlfriend, my friends and with the people I help,’ Toledo said in a January interview, according to Clarín.
Toledo was lauded for his community outreach efforts, serving as an ambassador for Weber Saint Gobain’s Buenos Aires headquarters, helping out a local center in his hometown feed 90 children while providing educational programs. He also helped secure funding for a center in Merlo for 120 children and another site in La Plata that served 400 kids each month.