Olympic figure skater Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya dies at age 20

Olympic figure skater Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya has died at age 20, the International Skating Union announced Saturday while expressing its sorrow for her “sudden and unexpected passing.”

Alexandrovskaya’s former coach, Andrei Khekalo, told Agence France-Presse she fell from a sixth-floor window in Moscow.

The Russian news agency Tass reported the body of the Moscow-born pairs skater, who competed for Australia at the 2018 Winter Games, was found in a Moscow street and that the “preliminary cause of death is suicide.”

Khekalo told AFP that Alexandrovskaya had been diagnosed in January with epilepsy, which caused her to quit the sport. Her Australian pairs partner, Harley Windsor, said on social media in February that he and Alexandrovskaya were unable to continue because of unspecified “health concerns,” and he wished her “all the best in the future and a quick recovery.”

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On Saturday, Windsor used social media to say he was “devastated and sick to my core about the sad and sudden passing of Katia.”

Posting a photo of himself and Alexandrovskaya at the 2018 Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, the 23-year-old Windsor added, “The amount we had achieved during our partnership is something I can never forget and will always hold close to my heart. This news is something you can never prepare for.”

Windsor and Alexandrovskaya were brought together by their respective coaches, who saw greater opportunities for both skaters in the pairing. The Russian Federation, always brimming with elite skating talent, granted Alexandrovskaya her release in 2016, and she found quick success with Windsor, who became the first indigenous Australian to compete in the Winter Games.

They were the first skaters from Australia to win an ISU championship, at the 2017 Junior Grand Prix in Nagoya, Japan, and they also finished first that year at the Tallinn Trophy in Estonia.

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The president of Ice Skating Australia, Peter Lynch, said Saturday in a statement that Alexandrovskaya was a “brilliant athlete with incredible drive and determination that was nurtured by our friends at the Russian Skating Federation, but then found a new home here in Australia forming an incredible pair skating partnership with Australian Harley Windsor.” He added, “Together they did what many thought impossible … [and] created greatness that will rest in the Australian record books for many years.”

“It is enormously sad to lose Katia, who was a vibrant and talented person and an incredible athlete,” said Ian Chesterman (via the Associated Press), chef de mission for the 2018 Australian Olympic team. “She was quiet and humble in her manner but incredibly determined to be the best she could be.

“Life since the Games has not been easy for her and this is another timely reminder of just how fragile life is.”

The skating family mourns the loss of Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya (AUS). The ISU shares its heartfelt condolences with her family, friends and teammates.

Please check the link below to learn more about Alexandrovskaya's career. RIP 🖤https://t.co/m6FWlBo2Jf pic.twitter.com/40os6bYhHT

The Australian Olympic community was already mourning the death of snowboarder Alex “Chumpy” Pullin, a three-time competitor at the Games who was given the honor in 2014 of holding his country’s flag in Sochi. Pullin, 32, drowned July 8 while spearfishing off Australia’s Gold Coast.

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Geoff Lipshut, the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia’s chief executive officer, hailed Alexandrovskaya and Windsor as “Australia’s first figure skating world champions.”

“She came to Australia to fulfill her sporting dreams,” said Lipshut, who has been tabbed as chef de mission for his country’s delegation to the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. “The news today is so sad, my thoughts are with Katia’s family in Russia, Harley and the skating community in Australia.

“I will remember Katia as a young person of great talent and remarkable potential.”

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