Olympian, weightlifting gold medallist killed at age 30

Officials have announced with “deep sadness” a weightlifting champion has been killed just months after his 30th birthday.

Ukrainian double European champion weightlifter Oleksandr Pielieshenko has been killed in the war against Russia, the Ukrainian weightlifting federation announced on Tuesday

Pielieshenko, 30, won European gold in 2016 and 2017, and narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics where he came fourth in the 85kg category.

“It is with great sadness that we have to tell you that the heart of the great Ukrainian sportsman Oleksandr Pielieshenko has stopped beating,” the federation reported in a statement.

Oleksandr Pielieshenko in Rio. Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images.

“We express our deepest condolences to the family and everyone who knew Oleksandr!”

Ukraine’s national weightlifting coach Victor Slobodianiuk said Pielieshenko had “died a hero defending Ukraine” in a post on Facebook.

Pielieshenko joined the Ukrainian army in February 2022 at the start of the Russian invasion, noted the Ukrainian Olympic Committee.

It comes as Ukrainian Winter Olympian Vladyslav Heraskevych recently condemned the inclusion of Russian athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics, beginning in July.

Heraskevych, who shot to fame at the Beijing Winter Olympics last year when he held up a “No War in Ukraine” banner to protest the impending Russian invasion, said the decision is a shocking one for him and his compatriots.

Oleksandr Pielieshenko was 30 year's old.

Olympic bosses in March announced Russian and Belarusian athletes will compete at the Games in France under a neutral flag and will not be involved in the opening ceremony.

Boxing star Vasiliy Lomachenko is one of many combat sport stars to have served Ukraine in the ongoing war.

He took time away from the sport to join Ukrainian forces in 2022 before returning to his professional career later that year.

After losing his undisputed lightweight world championship bout with Devin Haney last year,

Lomachenko will fight Aussie George Kambosos in Perth on Sunday for the IBF and IBO world titles.