Recommended

2000 Gold Medalist Dies: Soraya Jimenez Dies of Heart Attack Aged 35 (VIDEO)

Popular Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medalist, Soraya Jimenez, has died in her hometown of Mexico City, it was confirmed on Thursday.

Jimenez, Mexico's first female Olympic champion, is reported to have died from a heart attack aged 35 this week.

The Olympic weightlifter was hugely popular, and the Mexican Olympic Committee released a statement Thursday saying it was "in mourning."

Get Our Latest News for FREE

Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.

After Jimenez's gold medal in 2000, she was forced to retire from weightlifting due to various injury problems. She moved on to become a sportscaster for the Televisa television network.

Jimenez is praised by some for inspiring a generation of Mexican women to push forward and become top athletes. The inspiring image of her winning her gold medal as the first female Mexican athlete, spurred on others, and in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Maria Espinoza also went on to win a gold medal in taekwondo, becoming the only other Mexican woman to win an Olympic gold until now.

Here is a video of Jimenez:

Was this article helpful?

Help keep The Christian Post free for everyone.

By making a recurring donation or a one-time donation of any amount, you're helping to keep CP's articles free and accessible for everyone.

We’re sorry to hear that.

Hope you’ll give us another try and check out some other articles. Return to homepage.

Most Popular

More Articles