Weightlifting champ Oleksandr Pielieshenko is killed in Ukraine war

• Oleksandr Pielieshenko is killed.
• He was fighting in the Ukraine war.
• The double European weightlifting champ is mourned.

Oleksandr Pielieshenko, double European weightlifting champion, died in the Ukraine war.

The news of the athlete’s death was announced on Monday by the Ukrainian Olympic Committee.

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

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Oleksandr Pielieshenko joined the Ukraine army at the beginning of the war

Pielieshenko joined the Ukrainian armed forces in the early days of Russia’s invasion, the committee added.

Pielieshenko had a doping suspension from 2013-15. Then, he won the 2016 European championship in the minus 85 kilogram division, by one kilogram.

According to The Associated Press, he retained the title in 2017 in Split, although he was caught doping again.

He missed out on winning an Olympic medal by five kilograms at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, where he placed fourth.

Mourning Oleksandr Pielieshenko

The Ukrainian Weightlifting Federation honored his memory on Facebook.

«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 coach of the national weightlifting team also made a statement.

«War takes the best we have… Heroes don’t die.»

More than 400 Ukrainian athletes and leaders have died in the war

In one of the last photos shared  Oleksandr Pielieshenko, he appears with his partner.

The couple celebrated the Near Year in 2023 with their little dog.

His most recent Instagram post dates backs to September of that year.

May he rest in peace.