Swimming:Norway's world 100 metre breaststroke champion Alexander Dale Oen has died. Dale Oen, who was 26, was in Arizona at a training camp where he is reported to have had a cardiac arrest.
Dale Oen, who took an emotional men's 100 metres breaststroke gold medal at last year's world championships in Shanghai, had been attending an altitude training camp. A silver medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he was one of Norway's leading medal hopes for the London Games starting on July 27th.
"He died suddenly, without warning on Monday evening local time while with the swimming team in Flagstaff, USA," the Olympic Committee and Norwegian Swimming Federation said in a statement.
State broadcaster NRK said the swimmer's body had been found by a team mate lying collapsed in a shower room. Ola Ronsen, doctor to Norway's elite Olympians, was quickly on the scene and an ambulance arrived shortly afterwards but Dale Oen was pronounced dead at 9pm local time.
"My thoughts go first and foremost to his family in Oygarden," Per Rune Eknes, president of the Norwegian Swimming Federation said in a statement. "This is the toughest day the sport of swimming in Norway has ever had."