Five time Olympic cyclist Daniela Larreal Chirinos of Venezuela was found dead in her Las Vegas, USA apartment after she reportedly choked on food.

The 50 year-old cyclist competed in five Olympic Games – Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, and London 2012 – for Venezuela, but was a staunch critic of President Nicholas Maduro. In 2016 she was forced into excile after receiving numerous death threats for criticizing Maduro’s dictatorship and rampant corruption within the Ministry of Sport.

“This government intends to hide, behind the athletes, all the foreign currency that is being stolen. To Venezuelans I say: Maduro is not giving us anything, the resources of the athletes are a duty of the state, that is what the law dictates.”

Daniela Larreal, Venezuelan Olympic cyclist

In 2016 she sought asylum in the USA and found refuge in Las Vegas, where she worked in the hotel industry.

When Larreal failed to show up for work on Friday 12 August co-workers contacted the police who performed a welfare check at her apartment, finding her deceased. According to sources close to the investigation, Larreal, presumably died of asphyxiation after chocking on food stuck in her throat, although police continue to investigate the circumstances of her death.

Photo Credit: APF

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