3-Time Olympian Deon Lendore Dies in Car Accident

Texas A&M track star turned coach and three-time Olympian Deon Lendore died Monday in a head-on collision. The 29-year-old's car drifted across the center line and sideswiped another vehicle before crossing the center line again and crashing into an SUV, KXAN reports. He was driving home from practice at the time. Lendore was pronounced dead at the scene and the 65-year-old driver of the SUV was hospitalized with "incapacitating injuries." Lendore, who was from Trinidad and Tobago, was an NCAA champion and 12-time All-American in college, and competed in the past three Summer Olympics, Yahoo Sports reports. He won a bronze medal anchoring Trinidad and Tobago's 4x400-meter relay in the 2012 London Games.

"He epitomized hope and joy each time his feet landed on the track,” Trinidad Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe said. “He was indeed a trailblazer, a life gone too soon." Lendore had been acting as a volunteer assistant coach at Texas A&M the past two years while he continued to compete professionally. "It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the loss of Deon Lendore," the university's track and field team said in a statement. "An inspiration and motivator to those around him, the impact he had not only on Aggie track & field, but across the world, will be greatly missed." (More Texas A&M stories.)