Olympic figure skater Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya suffered from epilepsy and battled bouts of depression before dying from an apparent suicide in her native Russia over the weekend, reports say.
Details of the young athlete’s life were revealed after Russian state-run media confirmed that Alexandrovskaya, 20, fell from the window of her sixth-floor apartment in Moscow on Friday, according to the New York Post.
AUSTRALIA FIGURE SKATER EKATERINA ALEXANDROVSKAY, 20, DIES; SECOND OLYMPIAN DEATH THIS MONTH
A note that read “Lyublyu (I love)” was found left behind.
Coach Andrei Khekalo told AFP News that Alexandrovskaya had been diagnosed with epilepsy just before retiring from the sport in February and that she had suffered from depression even before that.
“I tried to get her to stay in sport at my own peril,” Khekalo told the news agency.
Alexandrovskaya was born in Russia but obtained her Australian citizenship in 2016 and represented the country at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics with partner Harley Windsor. The duo also took home the world junior title in 2017.
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“Words can not describe how I feel right now, I am devastated and sick to my core about the sad and sudden passing of Katia,” Windsor wrote in an Instagram post.
Ian Chesterman, chef de mission for the Australian team in Pyeongchang, hinted at Alexandrovskaya’s struggles immediately after news of her passing broke.
“Life since the Games (2018 Winter Olympics) has not been easy for her and this is another timely reminder of just how fragile life is,” he said Friday.
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Alexandrovskaya’s death comes just weeks after two-time snowboard world champion Alex Pullin drowned while spearfishing off Australia’s Gold Coast. The 2014 Winter Olympian was discovered by a snorkeler near an artificial reef earlier this month.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
