Ukrainian weightlifter Oleksandr Pielieshenko, who participated in the Rio Olympics, was killed at the front, the Ukrainian Weightlifting Federation announced on Monday. Pielieshenko, who was 30 years old, was a two-time European champion in 2016 and 2017. In Rio in 2016, he took fourth place in the 85 kg category. Two years later, his career was put on hold by a positive test for a masking agent.
“It is with great sadness that we inform you that the heart of the great Ukrainian sportsman Oleksandr Pielieshenko has stopped beating,” the Federation said in a statement. Ukrainian weightlifting team coach Victor Slobodianiuk wrote on Facebook that the athlete “died a hero defending Ukraine.”
Pielieshenko had joined the Ukrainian armed forces at the start of the Russian offensive, in February 2022, recalled the Ukrainian Olympic Committee.