COVID-19 and our Track and Field Family

[Master403]

If it's the same guy, Sports Reference has his birthdate as October 23, 1950.

[jazzcyclist]

If it's the same guy, Sports Reference has his birthdate as October 23, 1950.

LSU's track and field facebook page also lists his birth year as 1950.

[gm]

LSU's track and field facebook page also lists his birth year as 1950.

A 1976 Olympian for Barbados.

[jazzcyclist]

McDaniel's second-to-last facebook post was on March 17 when he posted MLK's "I've been to the mountaintop" speech. I can only imagine what was going through his mind then. Eerie.

[steveu]

Track and field lost Orlando McDaniel to COVID-19 this morning. Not only was he an LSU 2-sport All-American, he was a great mentor and a great human being who will be missed by all of us who had the privilege of knowing him. R.I.P. Coach. 😥😥😥

Very sad news indeed ... in recent years he was outstanding coach for the North Texas Cheetahs club and his pupils included great TJ'er Jasmine Moore.

[jazzcyclist]

Very sad news indeed ... in recent years he was outstanding coach for the North Texas Cheetahs club and his pupils included great TJ'er Jasmine Moore.

What made McDaniel so special is his tireless work to land scholarships for his Cheetahs. Of course he had his share of elite athletes like Moore who could basically pick her school, but he was equally committed to his lesser athletes as well, communicating with recruiters and not resting until he found a place for them.

[bambam1729]

LSU also tweeted that letterwinner Pearson Jordan passed away (and a different tweet indicated it was from COVID-19). A quick google found that he was part of LSU's first national championship relay in 1979.

First known Olympian to have died from COVID-19

[tandfman]

Naoki Tsukahara, a 4x100 relay silver medalist for Japan at the 2008 Olympics, has tested positive for COVID-19.

http://japanrunningnews.blogspot.com...-m-silver.html

[bambam1729]

First known Olympian to have died from COVID-19

Actually first announced. We now know of a Spanish cyclist who actually died a few days earlier from COVID-19, sadly.

[polevaultpower]

Steve Roth, boys track coach at Washington HS in Iowa for 40+ years is currently battling COVID-19.

[polevaultpower]

Really nice article about Mary Roman: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/o...oman-dead.html

[polevaultpower]

The Icelandic to English translations are rough, but I believe Thorey Elisdottir was diagnosed with COVID-19 and has since recovered.

[tandfman]

Former European Indoor champ and Olympic finalist Donato Sabia of Italy has died of the coronavirus. He was 56.

[ATK]

Emma (Bates) Ulmer thinks she and her husband probably have it after recent travel to Spain, she has been tweeting about it @emmajbates

They tried to get tested but were unable to get a test.

Bates details her entire experience in a podcast with Flotrack today. She gets very emotional while telling some of the stories. Worth the listen/watch.

https://www.flotrack.org/events/6682...laying=6743411

[polevaultpower]

"Iran's 2012 Olympic discus silver medallist Ehsan Hadai, who tested positive for the coronavirus late last month, is well on his way to making a full recovery."

https://www.worldathletics.org/news/...ates-athletics