OMSK, Russia, July 27 (R-Sport) - A former Russian biathlon champion has been killed in a road accident at the age of 24, her former coach and local police told R-Sport on Saturday.
Maria Demidova, a national relay champion in 2010, was run over in the Siberian city of Omsk at 11 p.m. on Friday night, coach Valery Medvedtsev said. She had already retired from the sport, he added.
Demidova was riding a bicycle when she was hit, police said.
"The driver of a foreign-brand car admitted hitting a cyclist on [the] Prospekt Mira [street], a woman who was crossing the road," police said in a statement. "As a result of the traffic incident, the female cyclist died before the ambulance arrived."
Demidova was to have turned 25 on Thursday.
Road safety is a key concern in Russia, where rules are routinely flouted and traffic police notoriously corrupt.
In a 2013 report, the World Health Organization said there were 26,567 road deaths in Russia in 2010, which translates into an estimated 18.6 deaths per 100,000 population.
updates with police statement, new dateline, edits to conform
