Olympic Figure Skater Dies Aged 20

FILE PHOTO: Figure Skating – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Pair Skating short program competition – Gangneung Ice Arena - Gangneung, South Korea – February 14, 2018 - Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor of Australia in action. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
FILE PHOTO: Figure Skating – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Pair Skating short program competition – Gangneung Ice Arena - Gangneung, South Korea – February 14, 2018 - Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor of Australia in action. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
TT
20

Olympic Figure Skater Dies Aged 20

FILE PHOTO: Figure Skating – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Pair Skating short program competition – Gangneung Ice Arena - Gangneung, South Korea – February 14, 2018 - Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor of Australia in action. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
FILE PHOTO: Figure Skating – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Pair Skating short program competition – Gangneung Ice Arena - Gangneung, South Korea – February 14, 2018 - Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor of Australia in action. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya, who represented Australia at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, has died aged 20 after falling out of the window in Moscow, her coach said on Saturday.

There was no immediate comment from Russian law enforcement agencies but Alexandrovskaya's coach Andrei Khekalo told AFP the young woman had fallen from a sixth-floor window in central Moscow.

Russian media said she had left a note reading "Lyublyu (I love)", suggesting it could have been a suicide.

Khekalo said Alexandrovskaya missed a training session in January and was afterwards diagnosed with epilepsy and quit the sport.

Even before she was diagnosed with epilepsy she suffered from depression, he added.

"I tried to get her to stay in sport at my own peril," Khekalo said.

He said she was particularly good at pairs skating. "She was fearless. She was like a fish in the water," he added.

Overlooked by the Russian system, Alexandrovskaya switched countries and partnered up with Harley Windsor, who eventually became Australia's first Aboriginal athlete to take part in the Winter Olympics.

The pair were crowned world junior champions in 2017, claiming Australia's first global figure skating title and getting the nod for the Olympics in Pyeongchang.

Windsor said he was "devastated and sick to my core about the sad and sudden passing of Katia".

"The amount we had achieved during our partnership is something I can never forget and will always hold close to my heart," he said in a statement on Instagram.

Peter Lynch, president at Ice Skating Australia, called Alexandrovskaya "a brilliant athlete with incredible drive and determination".

She and Windsor "did what many thought impossible", he said in a statement.

"Together they created greatness that will rest in the Australian record books for many years."



Lando Norris Wins, Nico Hulkenberg Makes History at British GP

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates winning the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at the at the Silverstone Circuit racetrack, Britain, 06 July 2025.  EPA/PETER POWELL .
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates winning the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at the at the Silverstone Circuit racetrack, Britain, 06 July 2025. EPA/PETER POWELL .
TT
20

Lando Norris Wins, Nico Hulkenberg Makes History at British GP

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates winning the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at the at the Silverstone Circuit racetrack, Britain, 06 July 2025.  EPA/PETER POWELL .
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain celebrates winning the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at the at the Silverstone Circuit racetrack, Britain, 06 July 2025. EPA/PETER POWELL .

McLaren's Lando Norris won his first British Grand Prix -- his home-country event -- in a race that had no shortage of twists and turns.

Beginning under dry skies that soon turned rainy at Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England, the race also saw Germany's Nico Hulkenberg finish third. For the 37-year-old Kick Sauber driver, it was his first podium in 239 Formula One starts.

And the second-place finisher, McLaren's Oscar Piastri, put himself in great position when he passed polesitter Max Verstappen of Red Bull, but that all changed when Piastri was penalized 10 seconds for coming out of a safety car restart too slowly.

And for Brit Lewis Hamilton, the defending champion, it was a fourth-place finish at his home grand prix. It marked his first finish off the podium after 12 consecutive podiums at the event, with his late push falling short, Reuters reported.

Verstappen finished fifth, falling out of the top three following a spin off the course.

Norris won in one hour, 37 minutes and 15.735 seconds, finishing 6.812 seconds ahead of his Australian McLaren teammate.

Hulkenberg held off Hamilton by just over five seconds.

As expected, two of the top three finishers were overjoyed in their post-match comments -- with one not so much.

"It is beautiful. Apart from a championship, this is as good as it gets in terms of feelings," Norris said of the win in England. "Incredible race, stressful as always but the support from the fans made the difference so I have to thank them.

"The main thing is don't it up, that is rule number one. It might never happen again. Hope it does, but these are memories I'll have forever."

Hulkenberg was equally jubilant, especially since he started 19th on the grid.
"It's been a long time coming hasn't it?! What a race, coming from virtually last. ... Crazy conditions, survival mode all race. We were really on it, no mistakes," he said.

"Today, I was in denial until the last pit stop and then I heard we gapped Lewis so I thought OK, breathing space but then he was closing. The pressure was there, intense race but we didn't crack."

Piastri declined to go into details after the penalty, which he served at a pit.
"I'm not going to say much, I'll get myself in trouble," he said. "Congrats to Nico, that's the story.

"Apparently you can't brake behind the safety car anymore. I had done it for five laps before but I'm not going to say more, I'm going to get myself in trouble. I still like Silverstone even if I don't like it today."