German Olympic champion Dahlmeier dies at 31 in mountaineering accident

Al Etihad

5 days ago

31 July 2025 00:09
ISLAMABAD (dpa)Twice Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier of Germany has died in a mountaineering accident in Pakistan, her management and local officials said on Wednesday. She was 31.Dahlmeier was swept away in a rockfall close to the summit of the 6,069 metres Laila Peak in the Karakoram mountain range on Monday."Laura Dahlmeier died in a mountain accident on 28 July on Laila Peak in Pakistan's Karakoram Mountains at 5700 m due to falling rocks," a management statement Wednesday said."The rescue operation to recover the victim was unsuccessful and was discontinued on the evening of July 29," it said, adding that "it can be assumed that Laura Dahlmeier died immediately."The statement added: "It was Laura Dahlmeier's expressed and written wish that in a case like this, nobody should risk their life to rescue her. It was her wish to leave her body behind at the mountain in a case like this. This is also in line with the wishes of her relatives, who also requested that Laura's last wishes be honoured."The spokesman of the local government in Gilgit-Baltistan region, Faizullah Faraq, said the rescue team that went up to find her has seen the dead body. Arrangements were being made to bring her body down to the base camp.Her climbing partner Marina Eva was rescued and brought to the base camp by a group of climbers and local high-altitude porters on Tuesday, tour operator Mohamed Iqbal told dpa.Dahlmeier won two Olympic golds, seven world titles and the overall World Cup title in a glittering biathlon career she ended in 2019.She was also German Sportswoman of the Year in 2017.Dahlmeier had been in the Karakoram region since the end of June with friends and had already climbed the 6,287m Great Trango Tower on July 8.Pakistan's northern region is home to several stunning peaks and attracts hundreds of mountaineers from all over the world including from Europe every year.Bavarian Dahlmeier had been mountaineering, as well as trail and mountain running, for years, especially since ending her glittering biathlon career at age 25 six years ago.Dahlmeier has two golds and a bronze from Winter Olympics, a world championship tally of seven gold, three silver and five bronze, one overall World Cup title and 20 World Cup race wins.
She remained widely popular after ending her career because she had no more goals in the sport. She worked as a TV pundit covering biathlon in recent years.