Former Olympian dies at 50 after choking on food—report
Five-time Olympian Daniela Larreal Chirinos passed away in her Las Vegas home after reportedly choking on food.
Multiple media outlets, including Spanish newspaper ABC, Fox News, and PEOPLE Magazine, reported that the athlete was found dead in her apartment last week.
Authorities told Fox News that they concluded that "asphyxiation caused by solid food remains found in her trachea" led to her death at 50 years old.
The Venezuela Olympic Committee mourned her death in a post on X as they looked back on her "outstanding career in track cycling."
"She managed to represent us with honor in five Olympic Games, accumulate four Olympic diplomas and triumphs that always filled us with great pride," they said.
Chirinos was known as one of the most accomplished cyclists in Venezuela. She participated in the speed cycling event in five Olympic Games: Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000), Athens (2004), and London (2012).
She bagged two silvers at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 2003.
Chirinos also won three golds and a silver at the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, El Salvador.
According to Fox News, she achieved her best placement in the Team Sprint final event in London, where she came in seventh. She was also a gold medalist in the Pan American Games and the Pan American Championships.
Rest in peace.