Oleksandr Pielieshenko

Oleksandr Yuriyovych Pielieshenko was a Ukrainian weightlifter. He was the 2016 and 2017 European Champion. He also competed for Ukraine at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Pielieshenko was killed in action during the Russo-Ukrainian War, at the age of 30.

Career

As of April 2018, he was suspended due to an out-of-competition drug test that detected the masking agent chlorthalidone. He was suspended provisionally until 2026.

Later life and death

In the first days of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pielieshenko joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He died during combat operations on 5 May 2024, at the age of 30. He was the first Olympian to be killed in action during the Russo-Ukrainian War.