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Fentanyl overdose kills Washington state Olympic athlete

Ian Waltz hugs Jarred Rome (950) after the discus final during the Olympic Track and Field trials in Sacramento, Calif., Sunday, July 18, 2004. Rome placed first, and Waltz placed second. Snohomish County medical examiners ruled that the death of 42-year-old Jarred Rome in September 2019, was an accident after discovering fentanyl, KOMO-TV reported. (ERIC RISBERG / Associated Press)
Associated Press
Ian Waltz hugs Jarred Rome (950) after the discus final during the Olympic Track and Field trials in Sacramento, Calif., Sunday, July 18, 2004. Rome placed first, and Waltz placed second. Snohomish County medical examiners ruled that the death of 42-year-old Jarred Rome in September 2019, was an accident after discovering fentanyl, KOMO-TV reported. (ERIC RISBERG / Associated Press)

MARYSVILLE, Wash. – Washington state medical examiners have confirmed that an Olympic discus thrower found dead in his hotel room in September died from a fentanyl overdose.

Snohomish County medical examiners ruled that the death of 42-year-old Jarred Rome was an accident after discovering fentanyl, KOMO-TV reported.

The Washington state resident competed in the 2004 Athens Games and in the 2012 London Games. Rome earned a silver medal at the 2011 Pan American Games in Mexico.

Rome grew up in Marysville, north of Seattle.

Authorities said Rome was in Marysville on Sept. 20 to celebrate his induction into a regional Sports Hall of Fame when he told friends he wasn’t feeling well. He was found dead the next day.

Rome was also a throwers coach at Boston University.