Laura Dahlmeier, 2-time Olympic biathlon champion, dies after mountaineer accident

She won gold medals at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Laura Dahlmeier: The two-time Olympic and seven-time world champion died after a mountaineering accident in Pakistan, her management company confirmed on July 30. She was 31. (Kevin Voigt/Getty Images)

Laura Dahlmeier, a two-time Olympic and seven-time world champion in the biathlon, died after suffering a severe injury in the Karakoram mountains of Pakistan, her management company confirmed. She was 31.

Her death was confirmed on Wednesday.

Dahlmeier was climbing Laila Peak in the Karakoram mountain range when she was struck by falling rocks.

Dahlmeier’s management company told German broadcaster ZDF that she was climbing with her mountaineering partner on July 28 when “she was caught in a rockfall.”

“The accident took place around noon local time at an altitude of approximately 5,700 meters (18,700 feet). Her partner immediately called emergency services, and a rescue operation began immediately,” the company said in a statement. “Due to the remoteness of the area, a helicopter was only able to reach the site of the accident on the morning of July 29.”

Rescuers were hampered by the risk of falling rocks as they attempted to reach Dahlmeier. Military helicopters had been unable to take off due to low visibility and rainfall, according to Faizullah Faraq, a spokesman for the regional Gilgit-Baltistan government.

Dahlmeier was born on Aug. 22, 1993 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

She won two gold medals at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, becoming the first female biathlete to achieve a sprint and pursuit double at the same Olympics.

Dahlmeier also won bronze in the individual at the 2018 Games despite missing the beginning of the season due to illness.

Dahlmeier also won the 2017 women’s biathlon World Cup before retiring from the sport two years later, when she was 25.

“The DOSB and the whole of German sport mourn the loss of Laura Dahlmeier,” Thomas Weikert, President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation, said in a statement to CNN Sports. “We are deeply shocked by the sudden and much too early death of this wonderful person. Our thoughts are with her family and friends and we will offer our support wherever we can.

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