Autopsy shows Steve Larsen did not die of a heart attack.
- By Steve Frothingham
- Published May. 20, 2009
- Updated May. 21, 2009 at 4:16 PM UTC
An autopsy showed that multi-sport athlete Steve Larsen likely did not die of a heart attack, his brother told VeloNews Wednesday.
Mike Larsen said the autopsy ruled out a heart attack and a blood clot. The cause of death may have been viral or related to allergies, he said.
“The last few weeks he had been having serious troubles with his breathing,” Mike Larsen said. He said his brother had been seeing a doctor about his breathing troubles and had been unable to finish his workouts.
On Tuesday evening Steve Larsen collapsed during a running workout with an elite group at a Bend, Oregon, middle school track.
“He was just getting started, it was the first lap of the first 800,” his brother said.
He said the family has asked for additional tests on his brother’s heart.
Mike Larsen, an amateur bike racer, said the last time he saw his younger brother was during a weekend club training ride. “His last words to me were, ‘Pull through, you expletive-expletive,’” he said with a laugh. “That’s when our relationship was strongest, when we were out doing things like that.”
He said the Bend community has been hit hard by his brother’s death.
“It’s a small town and Steve knew a lot of people. With five kids in the schools, you get to know everyone.”
While Larsen’s athletic victories are well known, his brother said his attributes as a father impressed him the most.
“When you have five kids, you put yourself last on the list all the time, and he was amazing at doing that. He would get his workouts done by 6:30 a.m. so he could spend time with the kids.”
The family has not completed memorial service plans, but Larsen said there would likely be an outdoor service in Bend this weekend. Details will be published on VeloNews.com when available.
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Steve Frothingham
VeloNews.com editor Steve Frothingham joined the gang in bike-crazy Boulder in early 2008. He is the former executive editor of the trade magazine Bicycle Retailer & Industry News. He also was a reporter and editor for The Associated Press, where he covered three presidential primaries in politics-crazy New Hampshire. His racing career began on a BMX track in 1980 and reached its zenith with several miserable road races as a category 2 in the early 90s. He subsequently retreated to cat. 3, where he has had a consistently mediocre (at best) record ever since, in road, mountain bike and cyclocross events. Follow him on Twitter at @steve_froth