Carl Yarbrough - Olympic Photographer

Carl Yarbrough, veteran Olympic photographer, died on September 14 due to complications caused by sepsis. He was 65.

Yarbrough grew up in Arlington, Texas. A skilled skier, Yarbrough specialized in outdoor winter shoots. During his 35-year career as a photographer, he covered nine Winter Olympics.

At the 1998 Nagano Games, Yarbrough, then 41 and freelancing for Sports Illustrated, set up a makeshift plywood platform from which to shoot a tricky turn in the downhill. There was one drawback: He couldn’t see racers approaching. “So I would listen for the sound of skis,” Yarbrough told Sports Illustrated. “And then as soon as I saw a flash of any color, I just hoped I had something.” His image of Hermann Maier’s crash made the February 23, 1998, cover of SI (see page 19).