Double European weightlifting champion Oleksandr Pielieshenko dies in the war between Russia and Ukraine

Kyiv, Ukraine. Two-time European weightlifting champion Oleksandr Pielieshenko died on the front lines of the war in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Olympic Committee said on Monday.

Pielieshenko “died in the war with the enemy” on Sunday, the committee posted on Telegram. He was 30 years old.

He joined the Ukrainian armed forces in the early days of the Russian invasion, the committee added.

Pielieshenko returned from a doping suspension in 2013-15 to win the 2016 European under-85 kilogram division by one kilogram. He successfully retained the title in 2017 in Split.

Pielieshenko missed an Olympic medal by five kilograms at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, where he placed fourth. He committed a second doping violation in 2018.

“It is with great sadness that we announce that today the heart of the honorable master of sports of Ukraine, two-time European weightlifting champion Oleksandr Pielieshenko, stopped beating,” the Ukrainian weightlifting federation said on Facebook.

National coach Viktor Slobodianiuk added on Facebook: “War takes the best out of us… This is a very big loss for the entire Ukrainian weightlifting community. Heroes don’t die.”