Double Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier has died after a mountaineering accident in Pakistan.
The 31-year-old German was caught in rockfall during an expedition in the Karakoram mountains on Monday.
Her climbing partner, Marina Eva, called emergency services after the accident, which occurred at about 5,700 metres (18,700 feet).
Rescue teams, containing expert climbers from Germany and the United States, immediately began a rescue mission but their searches were hindered by adverse weather conditions.
Dahlmeier’s management company confirmed on Wednesday that she had died.
“A recovery operation was launched but ultimately called off on the evening of 29 July,” her representatives told Germany’s Die Welt newspaper.
Her management said that Dahlmeier had likely died on 28 July – the day of the accident.
“It was Laura Dahlmeier’s express and written will that in a case like this, no-one should risk their life to recover her,” they said.
“It was her wish to leave her body behind on the mountain in this case. This is also in line with the wishes of her relatives.”
The German Olympic Sports Confederation said Dahlmeier was “more than an Olympic champion – she was someone with heart, attitude and vision”.
International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry said Dahlmeier’s death is “deeply shocking for all of us in the Olympic movement”.
She added: “She lost her life in her beloved mountains. She will be remembered forever.”
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Dahlmeier was an “ambassador for our country around the world and a role model for peaceful, joyful and fair coexistence across borders”.
Dahlmeier, an experienced mountaineer, represented Germany at two Winter Olympics, winning two golds and one bronze medal in Pyeongchang in 2018.
She was the first woman to win the sprint and pursuit events at the same Games and won a further 15 medals, including seven gold, across five World Championships before retiring from competition in May 2019.
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