A surfer who was hailed as a “great warrior” and who hoped to compete in the Tokyo Olympics died after she was struck by lightning while training in El Salvador.
Katherine Diaz, 22, her country’s top surfer, was in the water Friday near her home in El Tunco, about 25 miles south of San Salvador, when the weather suddenly changed and lightning struck. Emergency personnel were unable to revive her. She was training for the International Surfing Association’s World Surfing Games, a qualifier for Tokyo, scheduled to begin in May in El Salvador. The sport will make its debut in the Tokyo Games.
