Oleksandr Pielieshenko, who won the European weightlifting championship twice, passed away while fighting in the war in Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Olympic Committee.
Pielieshenko “was killed in the war against the enemy” last Sunday, the committee announced on Telegram. He was thirty years old.
He joined the military of Ukraine when Russia first invaded.
Pielieshenko returned to competing in 2015 after being suspended for doping, and then won the 2016 European championship in the under-85 kilogram category by just one kilogram. He won the title again in 2017 in Split.
Pielieshenko almost won an Olympic medal in 2016 at the Rio de Janeiro Games, but he came in fourth place, just five kilograms away from getting a medal. He broke the rules again in 2018 by using drugs to cheat.
The Ukrainian weightlifting federation said on Facebook that they are very sad to announce that Oleksandr Pielieshenko, a respected sports master in Ukraine and a two-time European weightlifting champion, has passed away today.
National coach Viktor Slobodianiuk wrote on Facebook, “War brings out the best in us. ” This is a big loss for all the weightlifters in Ukraine. Heroes live forever.
Over 400 Ukrainian athletes and officials have died in the war.