Double Olympic champion MISSING as rescue team deployed after horror accident

Double Olympic champion MISSING as rescue team deployed after horror accident

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Laura Dahlmeier retired from the biathlon in 2019 and has developed into an experienced mountaineer but is missing after an accident in Asia

Laura Dahlmeier at the 2019 Biathlon World Championships (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Laura Dahlmeier, a two-time Winter Olympics champion in biathlon, is missing after a mountaineering accident. A rescue team has been sent in to look for the 31-year-old German, with her management issuing a statement.

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Dahlmeier, who won both her Olympic titles in 2018, had been in the Pakistan Karakoram Mountains on Monday with a climbing partner when hit by rockfall. It took the rescue operation until the following day to reach the remote location.

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"Laura Dahlmeier was alpine-style climbing with her climbing partner on July 28th when she was struck by rockfall," the biathlete's management said in a statement shared by ZDF. "The accident occurred around noon local time at an altitude of approximately 5,700 meters.

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"The climbing partner immediately called emergency services, and rescue operations were initiated immediately. Due to the remoteness of the area, a rescue helicopter was unable to reach the scene until the morning of July 29th."

According to ZDF's report, Dahlmeier is herself a certified member of the mountain rescue service. She is described by the German outlet as an "experienced and risk-conscious mountaineer".

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Dahlmeier was just 20 years old when she made her Winter Olympics debut in Sochi in 2014. She didn't win any medals on that occasion, but was far more successful in Pyeongchang four years after that.

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After winning bronze in the individual event - where Hanna Oberg of Sweden took gold - the German then took gold in the sprint. She followed that up with yet another win, in the pursuit.

Laura Dahlmeier at the 2018 Biathlon World Cup (Image: SOLERO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

She also has seven World Championship gold medals to her name. Five of those came in Austria in 2017, and she was a triple gold medal winner at the Junior World Championships back in 2013.

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It wasn't long after those 2018 medals that Dahlmeier called time on her professional biathlon career. After stepping away from the sport in 2019, she has worked in TV in her native Germany and competed in mountain running.

According to her website, she had been planning to lead a running and trail running retreat in her native Germany, beginning at the end of June. Other events listed on the site include a Climbing advanced course in the Otztal Alps in Austria, scheduled for September.

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