BREAKING UPDATE: Russian biathlete Igor Malinovsky has died in Mi-8 helicopter crash

MULTIPLE world junior biathlon champion Igor Malinovsky has died. He was piloting a Robinson Mi-8 helicopter which went missing on Saturday, July 16.

UPDATE 11.16 am (July 18) – Russian biathlete Igor Malinovsky and his two passengers died after their helicopter crashed near the Uzon volcano located in the eastern part of Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia.

Malinovsky’s death was reported by the Russian Biathlon Association.

“Multiple world junior champion Igor Malinovsky has died. He loved biathlon and aviation. After completing his sports career, Igor became a pilot and worked in his native Kamchatka,” a statement read.

“We would like to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends.”

Biathlon President Vladimir Drachev said: “It is a tragedy for our sport and our country. Igor Malinovsky was extraordinarily talented, after all there aren’t that many five-time world champions – albeit in youth classes.

“He was stronger than any of his peers. Unfortunately, he has chosen a profession that involves such great risk. We mourn the loss of a wonderful man.”

On Sunday, July 17, after losing communications the previous day, fragments of a burnt Mi-8 helicopter were discovered.

Then hours later, the Ministry of Emergency Situations confirmed that the bodies of those on the helicopter had been found near the Semyachkov Pass, 13 kilometres from the Uzon volcano.

Igor, the son of Vladimir Malinovsky who owns the private company Vzlyot, retired from biathlons in 2021 due to injury before becoming a pilot.

ORIGINAL 8.32 am (July 17) – Fragments of a burnt Mi-8 helicopter piloted by Russian biathlete Igor Malinovsky, which went missing late on Saturday, July 16, have been discovered in the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia on Sunday, July 17.

Igor Malinovsky, a multiple world junior biathlon champion, was piloting the Robinson Mi-8 helicopter from the Uzon Valley to the village of Milkovo when it went missing on Saturday, July 16.

Reports from Russia on Sunday, July 17, suggest that parts of the missing helicopter, which is believed to have been carrying three people on board, were found in Kamchatka, Russia on the morning of Sunday, July 17.

According to local reports, the helicopter, which belongs to Vladimir Malinovsky’s private company Vzlyot, stopped communications due to bad weather.

Malinovsky’s son Igor, a biathlete and multiple world and European junior champion, was at the helm.

On Sunday, July 17, the Kamchatka Territory’s Governor Vladimir Solodiv said: “Rescuers in Kamchatka have found the Robinson helicopter, missing since yesterday, burned 13 kilometres south of the Uzon caldera.

“The chopper with two passengers on board and a pilot was on a private flight, and the group was not registered as tourists.”

According to Solodov, the weather was unfavourable for flights at the scene on Saturday, with low clouds and revealed that no bodies have been found upon initial search of the scene.

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