Cycling at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games:

The favorites in the race were the Dutch rider, Erik Dekker, and the American, Lance Armstrong. On the next-to-last lap, a three-rider break formed and Dekker was in it, while Armstrong was too closely marked and did not catch it. With Dekker were the Latvian, Dainis Ozols and the Italian, Fabio Casartelli. They stayed away and Casartelli held off Dekker in the sprint to win the gold medal. All the leading riders later turned professional. Armstrong had one of the greatest cycling careers ever, winning seven consecutive Tours de France (1999-2005). Dekker became a solid professional rider in the peleton, winning four stages at the Tour de France and the 2001 Amstel Gold Race. Ozols rode professionally from 1995-2000, winning a stage in the 1996 Peace Race.

Fabio Casartelli eventually became a domestique on the Motorola team and supported Armstrong in the 1995 Tour de France. On the 15th stage of that race, he went off a curve in the Pyrenees, while descending the Col de Portet d’Aspet, and hit his un-helmeted head on a concrete pylon. Doctors were quickly on the scene but he died almost instantly. The next day, the peleton allowed Motorola teammate Armstrong to ride away uncontested to victory, in Casartelli’s memory. As Armstrong crossed the finish line, he raised both hands to the sky, and looked up, remembering and honoring his fallen teammate.