When William Garcia of California fainted on the side of the road and was hospitalized with bleeding, the dust had covered his esophagus and ruptured his stomach lining, he almost became the first Olympic marathon death. He may have died if he had been left alone for an hour longer. His story is a sad one. The Games went on as planned with only running and jumping events being held in San Francisco. It was not until after the conclusion of the tournament that it was discovered that Garcia had died. He was 23 years old. It may seem like a tragic accident but it was actually suicide. The facts are that he saw no future in running and felt that he was holding the team back. So, he decided to kill himself by stopping breathing and bleeding to death. A great runner who competed in several events, Garcia's death caused concern among other runners who were still alive. They believed that if they continued without him, they would be disqualified. No one wanted this to happen so they all stopped competing together. The remaining athletes went their separate ways with only those who did not compete further advancing their careers. William Garcia was born on January 11th, 1875 in San Jose, California. He was a student at Santa Clara University when he began running for the school's football team. In 1893, he helped lead his team to victory in the first ever West Coast Championship.