Ironman Athlete Brian Kozera Dies in Bicycle Crash at Age 44

Ironman athlete Brian Kozera died Saturday after a bicycle crash in Pennsylvania, according to TMZ Sports. He was 44 years old.

According to TMZ, the crash report stated Kozera collided with a pickup truck after running a stop sign, was thrown from his bike and caught in the truck's rear wheel.

The Pennsylvania native was also an officer in the Norristown Police Department, which released a statement after his death:

"Big loss for our department, for our community," police chief Derrick Woods said, per Fox29. "I got so many emails and text messages from people in the community showing how much he mean to them, how much they'll miss him."

Kozera began training for Ironman competitions after surviving cancer in 2015, as he discussed in his personal blog. He completed his first full Ironman in June 2016 and finished six total 140.6-mile competitions.

He was training for the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii scheduled for October 2022.