Joachim Halupczok (3 June 1968 – 5 February 1994) was a Polish

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

. He won the silver medal in the team time trial at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

along with Andrzej Sypytkowski,

Marek Leśniewski Marek Leśniewski (born 24 April 1963) is a Polish former racing cyclist. He won the silver medal in the team time trial at the 1988 Summer Olympics along with Andrzej Sypytkowski, Joachim Halupczok and Zenon Jaskuła. He won the Tour de Polog ...

and

Zenon Jaskuła Zenon Jaskuła (born 4 June 1962) is a Polish former professional racing cyclist from Śrem, who was active in the 1990s. He won stage 16 and finished third overall in the 1993 Tour de France. He competed in the team time trial at the 1988 Su ...

. In 1989 he became the amateur champion at the

1989 UCI Road World Championships The 1989 UCI Road World Championships took place in Chambéry, France. Events summary References UCI Road World Championships by year W UCI Road World Championships UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are ...

. In 1990 he signed professional terms and took part in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

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, Japan. He finished the World Championship course :08 behind the winner within a peloton of the best riders in the world including

Gianni Bugno Gianni Bugno (; born 14 February 1964) is a retired Italian professional road racing cyclist. Biography Bugno was a versatile rider, able to do well in different types of races. He won numerous stages in the Tour de France, and the Milan� ...

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Pedro Delgado Pedro Delgado Robledo (; born 15 April 1960), also known as Perico (), is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 1988 Tour de France, as well as the Vuelta a España in 1985 and 1989. Delgado is 171 centimetres tall (5&nb ...

, Sean Kelly and Miguel Indurain. He was later diagnosed with

cardiac arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adults ...

, which meant that he had to quit professional cycling. It was suspected that the cause of his health problems was the use of EPO. Professor Romuald Lewicki from Zakład Medycyny Sportowej WAM in Lodz (Institute of Sports Medicine) claims that Halupczok's cardiac arrhythmia was genetic because his father and son suffer from the same condition.

Death

Halupczok died on the way to the hospital, after he collapsed during a warm-up for a charity indoor football tournament in Opole on 5 February 1994. The autopsy has shown that he has not died of a heart attack. He left wife and two children.

References

1968 births 1994 deaths People from Opole County Sportspeople from Opole Voivodeship Polish male cyclists Cyclists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Poland Olympic silver medalists for Poland Olympic medalists in cycling Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics 20th-century Polish people {{Poland-Olympic-medalist-stub