Laura Dahlmeier, a two-time Olympic gold medal-winning German biathlete, died after a mountaineering accident in Pakistan on Monday. She was 31.
Her death was reported by ZDF, a German broadcaster that had employed her as an expert biathlon commentator, and confirmed by Pakistani officials.
The accident occurred around noon on Monday, at an altitude of about 18,000 feet at Laila Peak in the Karakoram Mountains in the Hushe Valley region of northeast Pakistan, said Karrar Haidri, an official at the Alpine Club of Pakistan, a group that promotes mountaineering. Faizullah Firaq, a spokesman for the regional government of Gilgit-Baltistan, confirmed the death.
Ms. Dahlmeier, an experienced mountaineer who had been climbing in the area since June, was hit by falling rocks. Along with a partner, she had been aiming to reach Laila’s summit.
The climbing partner, Marina Krauss, escaped unharmed and alerted the authorities. “She managed to send a distress signal and successfully descended to base camp,” Mr. Haidri said.
A helicopter, initially delayed by rain and winds, surveyed the scene. “No signs of life were observed on Laila Peak during the aerial search, partly due to poor weather conditions,” Mr. Firaq said in an interview.
Rescuers were at first hampered by the site’s remoteness and the danger of further rockfalls. A multinational team of six with the support of the Pakistani military began a joint operation on Wednesday to reach Ms. Dahlmeier. They reached the location of the body and visually confirmed her identity, Mr. Firaq said. “Efforts are currently underway to retrieve it and transport it back to base camp,” he said.
Ms. Dahlmeier won the sprint and pursuit events in biathlon at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and added a bronze in the individual event. In Germany, she had helped boost the popularity of the biathlon, a cross-country ski race in which participants also shoot at targets. She won five gold medals at the 2017 world championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, among a total of seven in her career.
But she left the sport in 2019 at age 25, saying, “I no longer feel the 100 percent passion that is needed for professional sports.”
In retirement, in addition to mountain climbing, she participated in mountain-running races.
“Laura Dahlmeier was an exceptional athlete whose international successes in biathlon fascinated and thrilled not only winter sports fans,” Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said in a statement. “I was fortunate enough to be there as a spectator when she won her first Olympic gold medal at the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea. Back then in Pyeongchang, she impressed not only with her athletic performance and nerves of steel, but also with her personality, with her likable, open and passionate manner.”
