PREGNANT FORMER OLYMPIAN COLLAPSES & DIES

 A pregnant former Olympic runner three weeks from her due date died after collapsing at a Connecticut restaurant on Monday, but doctors were able to save her baby.

Ethiopian runner Meskerem Legesse, 26, of Westport, Connecticut was with her two-year-old son at a Chinese restaurant on the 900 block of Dixwell Ave in Hamden eating lunch when she collapsed on Monday.

The eight-months pregnant Legesse was given CPR at the restaurant before an ambulance rushed her to Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Hamden Fire Chief David Berardesca says CPR efforts in the restaurant and ambulance allowed doctors to save the baby.

It is unclear what caused Legesse's death, but a friend, Fatima Sene, said the athlete had heart problems which were the cause of her retirement from sport.

•  ·         Meskerem Legesse, 26, was eight months pregnant when she collapsed at a Connecticut restaurant

• ·         The long-distance runner was rushed to hospital where doctors were able to save her baby

• ·         She had previously been diagnosed with heart problems