A two-time European weightlifting champ who competed in the 2016 Olympics for Ukraine was killed in action during his country’s war with Russia, the Ukrainian Olympic Committee announced Monday.
Oleksandr Pielieshenko, 30, “died in the war with the enemy” on Sunday after joining Ukraine’s armed forces near the start of the conflict more than two years ago, the committee said in a Telegram post.
“It is with great sadness that we announce that today the heart of the honored master of sports of Ukraine, two-time European weightlifting champion Oleksandr Pielieshenko, stopped beating,” the Ukrainian weightlifting federation said on Facebook.
Pielieshenko was five kilograms short of winning a medal at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016 where he placed fourth.
While he won the 2016 European under-85 kilogram division and then retained the title in 2017, the athlete was caught up in two doping violations. He was suspended 2013-15 and was caught again in 2018 that led to his ban.
Pielieshenko is among more than 400 Ukrainian athletes and officials who have been killed in the war since Russia invaded the neighboring country in February 2022.
“War takes the best of us … This is a very heavy loss for the entire weightlifting community of Ukraine,” National coach Viktor Slobodianiuk said in a Facebook post. “Heroes do not die.”
With Post wires
