Moscow – Cross-country skiing Olympic champion Alexei Prokourorov of Russia died on Friday in a traffic accident, police said. He was 44 years old.
Police said that Prokourorov was hit by a car when he walked across a road in the town of Vladimir, some 160 kilometres east of Moscow.
Prokourorov won 30km gold and 4x10km silver at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary. The five-time Olympian was Russia's flagbearer at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.
Prokourorov won six medals at world championships, including a 30km gold in 1997. Russian Cross Country Ski Federation secretary Yuri Garmash said Prokourorov was also a 13-time national champion, and received state honors for his services to sport. As stalwart on the Russian team in the 90's, he twice finished 4th in the overall World Cup standings, and 7 times finished in the top 10.
