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 spo ...

. He won the silver medal in the

team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...

at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

along with Andrzej Sypytkowski, Marek Leśniewski and Zenon Jaskuła. 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

1989 UCI Road World Championships, UCI Road World Championships by year 1989 in road cycling, W 1989 in French sport, UCI Road World Cham ...

. 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 ...

Utsunomiya is the capital and largest city of Tochigi Prefecture in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 513,584, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Utsunomiya is famous for its ''gyoza'' ...

, 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 Italy, 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 Mi ...

Greg Lemond Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France thrice and the UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, Road Race World Championship twice, becoming t ...

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. He finished in the top 10 of eighteen ...

, Sean Kelly and

Miguel Indurain --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disam ...

. He was later diagnosed with

cardiac arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. Essentially, this is anything but normal sinus rhythm. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beat ...

, 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

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

(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 Opole (; ; ; ) is a city located in southern Poland on the Oder River and the historical capital of Upper Silesia. With a population of approximately 127,387 as of the 2021 census, it is the capital of Opole Voivodeship (province) and the seat of ...

on 5 February 1994. The autopsy has shown that he had not died of a heart attack. He left his wife and two children.

References

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