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Former Olympic hammer throw champ Kamila Skolimowska dead at 26

By: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Posted: 02/19/2009 5:40 AM | Comments: 0 | Last Modified: 02/19/2009 6:56 AM

WARSAW, Poland - Former Olympic hammer throw champion Kamila Skolimowska has died suddenly at age 26.

Skolimowska, who won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, died Wednesday in Portugal after collapsing in training, Poland's track and field federation said Thursday.

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"This is a great tragedy to us," said federation director general Jan Slezak.

Slezak said the cause of death was not immediately clear, pending an autopsy. He said Skolimowska had complained recently of "muscle problems," but would not elaborate.

On Wednesday, Skolimowska suddenly felt ill and was rushed to hospital in Vila Real de Santo Antonio where she died.

She was in Portugal to begin training ahead of the world championships in Berlin in August.

Skolimowska won gold at the age of 17 when the women's hammer throw was contested for the first time at an Olympics. She failed to win a medal at the 2004 Athens Games or at last year's Beijing Olympics.

In recent years she worked for the Warsaw police, taking care of children, Slezak said.

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