A spectator was killed Sunday during the weight throw event at a high school track and field meet on the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus after an athlete's implement went out of bounds.
According to KRDO-TV, Wade Langston, 57, the father of a fellow Colorado United Track Club competitor, was struck by a weight that “cleared certified barriers.” Firefighters pronounced Langston, who had tried to shield his wife and son from the weight, dead at the scene.
The university was hosting a series of indoor track and field meets at the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse. The meets were scheduled for December 15, January 26, and February 16, with the final event being the UCCS United High School Indoor State Championship. Officials say the accident occurred around 9:30 a.m. during the Jan. 26 meeting.
The weight throw, which is held indoors and differs from the hammer throw, uses a 25-pound weight for high school men. The implement consists of a weighted ball attached to a grip by a steel wire.
“We are heartbroken at this horrible accident and are focused on supporting all involved,” campus Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet said in a statement. Langston’s niece-in-law, Tamara Rocha, has created a GoFundMe page to support the family.
“Wade was a devoted husband, loving father, cherished brother and brother-in-law, fun uncle, and an even more fun great-uncle,” Rocha wrote. “He was a truly wonderful person who brought laughter to every room he entered with his great sense of humor.”
While rare, similar tragic events have happened at track and field events in the past. In 2005, a 16-pound shot put ball struck and killed an official during a practice at the U.S. track and field championships in Los Angeles in 2005.
In 2017, a student volunteer at a college track and field meet at Wheaton College in Illinois was killed after being struck with a hammer that had gotten through a safety cage during event warmups.
In 2023, Marie Widmann, a runner from Michigan’s Grand Valley State University, was struck in the chest by a 16-pound hammer while volunteering at a meet. Widmann, who suffered broken ribs as a result of the incident, filed suit against both Aquinas College and the NCAA this month.
Laura Ratliff is a New York City-based writer, editor, and runner. Laura's writing expertise spans numerous topics, ranging from travel and food and drink to reported pieces covering political and human rights issues. She has previously worked at Architectural Digest, Bloomberg News, and Condé Nast Traveler and was most recently the senior editorial director at TripSavvy. Like many of us, Laura was bitten by the running bug later in life, after years of claiming to "hate running." Her favorite marathon is Big Sur.
