Two-time Olympic gold medalist Laura Dahlmeier dead at 31 after climbing accident
Dahlmeier's death was confirmed by her team in a post on Instagram. The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) also confirmed Dahlmeier's death in a statement to CNN.
'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.
'Laura was a role model and inspiration to so many of us in and out of sport. She always had clear goals in mind and pursued her dreams.'
Dahlmeier was reportedly struck by a falling rock while climbing Laila Peak in Pakistan on Monday. Her climbing partner, Marina Eva, sent out a distress signal, but helicopters could not be dispatched due to low visibility and poor weather, per CNN. Helicopters were unable to reach the scene of the accident until Tuesday.
Dahlmeier competed in both the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. She did not medal in 2014, but made a name for herself in 2018, when she became the first woman to win the biathlon sprint and pursuit events during a single Olympics. Dahlmeier also won a bronze medal in the 15km individual event in 2018.
Prior to the 2018 Olympics, Dahlmeier dominated at the Biathlon World Championships, securing five gold medals at the 2017. She won two additional golds at the World Championships, one in 2015 and one in 2016.
In 2019, Dahlmeier retired from biathlon at 25.
Following her retirement, Dahlmeier wrote a children's book, served as a biathlon commentator in Germany and competed in mountain running.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Bedard, Celebrini among those invited to Canadian men's Olympic hockey camp
The past, present and future of Canadian men's hockey will meet at a Hockey Canada national team orientation camp in Calgary later this month. Young stars Connor Bedard (Chicago Blackhawks) and Macklin Celebrini (San Jose Sharks) will join Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche) and Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers), who have already been named to the Canadian men's Olympic team, for three days of off-ice meetings, team building and presentations. Much was made about Bedard's omission from the 4 Nations Face-Off team earlier this year after a difficult season with the Blackhawks. But both Bedard and Celebrini, who starred alongside Crosby at the world championship this past spring, will have a chance to prove they belong at the Olympics. They're four of 42 NHL players invited to the camp, and will be joined by players vying to make the Canadian women's and Para hockey teams that will compete for gold in Milano Cortina in February. "While the next several months will bring intense evaluation and difficult roster decisions, we look forward to kicking off the season in Calgary and giving our athletes and staff a chance to come together and start to become one team as we set our sights on February," Scott Salmond, Hockey Canada's senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations, said in a statement. The first six players on the men's team were named in June: Crosby, McDavid, MacKinnon, Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche), Brayden Point (Tampa Bay Lightning) and back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Sam Reinhart (Florida Panthers). Four other Panthers are competing to join Reinhart on the Olympic team: defenceman Aaron Ekblad and forwards Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand and Carter Verhaeghe. Every player who won at the 4 Nations Face-Off was invited back. Canada looks set in goal NHL players haven't appeared at an Olympic Games since 2014 in Sochi, and only three players invited to Hockey Canada's August camp have an Olympic gold medal to their names: Crosby, John Tavares (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings). Nineteen players on the camp list are Stanley Cup champions, while 12 have won world championship gold medals. Only three goaltenders were named to Hockey Canada's roster, suggesting the team is set in net. They include St. Louis Blues starter Jordan Binnington, who backstopped Canada to a 4 Nations Face-Off win over the United States earlier this year. He'll be joined by Adin Hill (Vegas Golden Knights) and Sam Montembeault (Montreal Canadiens), who were also part of the 4 Nations Face-Off team. On the blue line, young, puck-moving defencemen like Noah Dobson (Montreal Canadiens) and Evan Bouchard (Edmonton Oilers) are in the mix, competing against veterans like Doughty and Ekblad. Makar is the only defenceman who's been named to the team so far. His long-time D-partner in Colorado, Devon Toews, seems likely to make the team beside him, while McDavid's linemate on the Oilers, Zach Hyman, could provide some built-in chemistry during a short tournament. Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, and Edmonton Oilers forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman are among the players fighting for a spot on the team at forward. The players were selected by a leadership group that includes GM Doug Armstrong, assistant GMs Julien BriseBois, Jim Nill and Don Sweeney, director of player personnel Kyle Dubas, head coach Jon Cooper and Ryan Getzlaf, who's a player relations advisor with the team. The men's team opens its Olympic tournament against the Czech Republic on Feb. 12. The gold medal game will be on Feb. 22. Para camp roster named Twenty men have also been selected to attend camps and events with the Para hockey program, as the squad looks to avenge a gold-medal game loss to the U.S. in 2022. The three goaltenders, six defencemen and 11 forwards include nine players who earned silver at the 2022 Paralympics, and 16 who won gold at the 2024 World Para Hockey Championship in Calgary. That includes captain Tyler McGregor, who will be looking for his first gold medal after two silver and a bronze at the Paralympics, as well as Liam Hickey and Dominic Cozzolino, who led Canada in scoring at the 2025 World Para Hockey Championship, where Canada finished second to the U.S. Three goaltenders (Corbin Watson, Adam Kingsmill and Jean-François Huneault) round out the camp roster. The Paralympic Games in Milano Cortina begin on March 6 and run through March 15.
The Hill
20 minutes ago
- The Hill
College at center of USA Fencing fight agrees to deal with Trump admin on trans athletes
Wagner College, a small, private liberal arts college in Staten Island, N.Y., has agreed to comply with the Trump administration's restrictions on transgender student-athletes following a federal investigation that stemmed from an incident at a women's fencing competition in March, the Education Department announced on Friday. The department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) launched an investigation into Wagner after USA Fencing officials disqualified a woman from a tournament at the University of Maryland on March 30. Stephanie Turner, 31, had refused to compete against Red Sullivan, a 19-year-old Wagner student, taking a knee to protest Sullivan's participation in violation of the competition's rules. A video of Turner's disqualification quickly went viral, amplified by conservative activists, political figures and Fox News. 'This is heroic on her part,' Rep. Mike Lee (R-Utah) wrote in a post on X, responding to a video of the exchange posted by Riley Gaines, a frequent critic of transgender women in women's sports. In May, the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) held a hearing on the incident and invited Turner to testify. Participation in the University of Maryland's Cherry Blossom Open, hosted annually during springtime, is not limited to college students, according to the school's fencing club, of which Turner, who now lives in suburban Philadelphia, is a former member. Sullivan, a sophomore at Wagner, entered the competition individually. She had competed for the college's women's fencing team until February, when the NCAA said it would comply with President Trump's executive order to ban transgender student-athletes from girls' and women's sports. In an interview with Rolling Stone in April, Sullivan said the exchange with Turner left her bewildered. 'Nothing close to this has ever happened. No one has ever had a problem with me fencing in a women's event,' said Sullivan, who became medically eligible for women's tournaments last year. USA Fencing, the sport's governing body, announced in July that it would amend its transgender and nonbinary participation policy to align with a new U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee policy barring transgender women from competing in Olympic women's sports. As part of its deal with the Trump administration, Wagner will formally amend its athletic policies to reflect 'biology-based' definitions of the words 'male' and 'female,' consistent with an executive order Trump signed on his first day back in office proclaiming that the U.S. recognizes only two unchangeable sexes. The college will also issue a public statement pledging to comply with Title IX, the federal civil rights law against sex discrimination in schools that the Trump administration has said prohibits transgender students from competing in girls' and women's sports. The University of Pennsylvania, Trump's alma mater, agreed to a nearly identical resolution in July. In a statement on Friday, Wagner College President Jeffrey Doggett said the school would continue to foster a welcoming and supportive community, but that it has a responsibility to comply with federal laws as the government interprets them. He apologized to any student-athletes who were negatively impacted by the school allowing transgender women to compete. The college's agreement with the administration, Doggett said, is 'markedly different' from those of other universities found to have violated Trump's orders. 'Working cooperatively with the OCR investigators, we were able to negotiate terms that are limited, minimally intrusive and tailored to the particular facts of Wagner's situation,' he said. Doggett added that the college had been following NCAA and USA Fencing rules applicable at the time when it allowed Sullivan, whom the statement does not name directly, to participate on the women's fencing team. The agreement with OCR 'makes clear that there was no admission or finding of any wrongdoing by the College,' he said. 'As we know, higher education is in the midst of great change,' Doggett continued. 'Like many institutions, Wagner College is doing what it must to advance its mission during this period of turbulence. I believe that it is of the utmost importance that Wagner set a course that ensures its long-term success, and part of that is to continue to foster an open and supportive community that follows the laws and regulations with which it must comply. In bringing an end to this investigation I believe we can continue to do both.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Three Blues Invited To Canada's Orientation Camp For Selection To 2026 Winter Olympics
Jordan Binnington, Colton Parayko and Robert Thomas are all part of 42 men's players invited to Canada's Orientation Camp for selection for the roster that will represent at the Milano-Cortana 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. The three St. Louis Blues will take part in the camp to be held Aug. 26-28 in Calgary. Three goalies, 13 defensemen and 26 forwards will all take part in naming a roster that will represent Canada in February. The men's selections were made by a panel, including Blues GM and Canada GM Doug Armstrong, assistant general managers Julien BriseBois (Tampa Bay Lightning), Jim Nill (Dallas Stars) and Don Sweeney (Boston Bruins), director of player personnel Kyle Dubas (Pittsburgh Penguins) and coach Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay), with input from player relations advisor, former Anaheim Ducks great Ryan Getzlaf and Scott Salmond, Canada's senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations. Binnington and Parayko each were on the squad for the 4 Nations Face-Off, which was won by Canada with its 3-2 overtime win against the United States.
