World Games 2025: Brutal minutes
Reading time: 3 min.
|At the World Games in Chengdu, athletes collapse during an orienteering event, one of whom later dies. Even days later, questions remain.
Anne-Katrin Klar had never experienced anything like it. The German orienteering coach stood somewhat incredulously behind the finish line in Chengdu's Eastern New Area, unable to quite believe what she saw: athletes in wheelchairs and on stretchers being wheeled into the medical area. Completely exhausted, those who didn't require medical attention dragged themselves to the finish line, crouching on the ground. "Those were the most brutal minutes of my life. I've never run in such temperatures," said German starter Anselm Reichenbach. Images that didn't quite fit in with the otherwise joyful World Games in China, the largest event for non-Olympic sports.
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