Ukrainian World Weightlifting Champion Killed in War – WQKT 104.5 the River

Two-time European weightlifting champion Oleksandr Pielieshenko has died on the front lines of the war in Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Olympic Committee. The committee posted on Telegram on Sunday that Pielieshenko “died in the war with the enemy.” He was 30 years old. He joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the early days of the Russian invasion, the committee added. Pielieshenko returned from a doping ban in 2013/15 and won the European U-85 kilogram class in 2016 by a kilogram margin. He successfully defended the title in Split in 2017. Pielieshenko missed an Olympic medal by five kilograms at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, where he finished fourth.