The coach of the Russian taekwondo star who won European gold less than a month ago, said there is no obvious cause of her death at the age of 19.
He emphasized that Perm University prodigy Arina Biktimirova had not complained about any health problems before.
“We cannot understand what could have happened to her health,” coach, Daniel Gorbunov, told KP.RU.
Arina did not have any chronic diseases. Before each competition, athletes are not just checked, but literally ‘shine through’.
“Arina, when she was checked before going to the European Championship, was completely healthy. What has happened [has made] us too shocked.”
Biktimirova is said to have suddenly died at home in the city where she studied on Monday.
RT reports:Biktimirova’s relatives said she had been fine and did not report feeling unwell when she recently spent a day off at home.
Her parents are said to have been woken by her wheezing and losing consciousness the following morning.
An ambulance rushed to try to save Biktimirova, but doctors could not revive the athlete who began her sporting exploits at the age of six.
Biktimirova was studying to become a radiophysicist at the university alongside her high sporting ambitions.
Her university trainers described her death as “a huge loss” and said they had received calls “from all over Russia” expressing condolences.
“At 11, she had already begun to represent the Russian national team,” they pointed out.
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