Ukraine reported the death of
Vitaly Merinov, four-time world kickboxing champion
, due to injuries sustained on the front lines of the war sparked by Russia's invasion of his country in February 2022.
He was wounded in combat and still returned to the fight.
He had a 2 year old daughter.
The report, referred to by Ruslan Martsinkiv, mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk, the athlete's hometown, indicates that Merinov died on the night between March 31 and April 1.
"An irreparable loss for the community. Vitaly Merinov left for the war
on the first day of the invasion ," Martsinkiv wrote on his
Facebook
social network account .
Fight to the last breath
"During one of the combats, he was wounded by a shot in the leg. He recovered and returned to the front,
defending Ukraine until his last breath
. He leaves behind his wife and
two-year-old daughter
," the mayor completed.
Merinov was one of the many Ukrainian athletes who voluntarily enlisted to defend their country after the war started by the invasion of Russia, which has so far caused the death
of 262 athletes from that country.
Vitaly Merinov was a four-time world kickboxing champion.
Likewise, the war led to the destruction of 363 sports facilities in the country, according to the Sports Minister, Vadym Huttsait, in a meeting with the president of the International Gymnastics Federation, the Japanese Morinari Watanabe.
Huttsait also asked that no Russian athlete can participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games or other sports competitions after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suggested to the federations the reinstatement of athletes from that country and Belarus for individual international tournaments.
The funeral in his town, Ivano-Frankivsk (Reuters).
"Everyone supports this war and participates in events organized in support of it," Huttsait questioned.
Thousands of people came to his funeral and he was already declared a war hero (Reuters).
Figure skater
Dmytro
Sharpar, who was killed in combat near Bakhmut, and Volodymyr Androshchuk,
a 22-year-old decathlon champion
and future Olympic hopeful, also died this year.
In March last year, the sports world was shocked by the death of 11-year-old
gymnast Kateryna Dyachenko
, who was buried when her home in Mariupol collapsed after a Russian bombing raid.
ANSA Agency.
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