U.S. Olympian’s Sister Suffers ‘Sudden Death’ At Paris Games

U.S. Olympic polo star Maggie Steffens will be thinking about her sister-in-law when she gets in the pool to compete on behalf of Team USA at the Paris Games. On Sunday, July 28, a representative for the US women’s water polo team spoke with PEOPLE and confirmed that Steffens’ sister-in-law passed away in Paris after coming to watch her compete in the Olympics. The sister-in-law, Lulu, was the younger sister of Steffens’ husband, Bobby Conner. She was only 26 at the time of her death, having died after experiencing a medical emergency.

“Obviously it’s difficult to talk about, especially today, but Lulu was a light,” Steffens said in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE. “She is the Olympic spirit, and I think that’s shown in how much she’s here. She’s so present at the Olympics. She was somebody that brought joy to everybody she was with and to everything she did.” According to Steffens, Lulu was a lover of traveling, having served as a camp counselor. She also pointed out that her sister-in-law was an artist and “brought 150 percent” to everything she was involved with.

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“That’s what everybody here is trying to do in the Olympic Games,” the women’s water polo captain stated in the interview. “And so to know that she embodies that spirit and for us to try to channel that and honor her, honor that spirit, that light that she’s always brought is something that we’re focused on doing.” As of this writing, Lulu’s family has not released the official cause of her untimely passing, however, Steffens’ husband is staying in Paris in order to provide help and support as she continues to work toward a fourth gold medal. “And Lulu is here. She’s here [in Paris],” Steffens added. “And I think that’s something that’s uniting us all and we hope to make her proud.”

Some of the art Lulu created is also still in Paris. She made some clocks that are similar in style to the kind that famous rapper Flavor Flav wears around his neck. Flav received one of these clocks earlier this week and a video showing him sporting the clock was posted on his Instagram account. “She was really excited about Flavor Flav being a part of our team, and she loves our team. Obviously her and I have been super close. She’s like my little sister and she knows a lot of the girls on our team,” Steffens said. “And so she ended up making clocks for Flavor Flav. He has one now, and then she made them for the families to wear on the back.”

If you flip the clock over it says, “Made with love by Lulu Conner.” Steffens then told the folks at PEOPLE, “It just shows that she’s here, she’s present, and she continues to shine that light like she’s always done.” The women’s water polo preliminary round continues on July 31. Team USA will play Italy. The top four countries at the end of this round will move on to the quarterfinals, which are planned for Aug. 6. The medal matches kick off on Aug. 10.

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