Two-time world champion snowboarder Alex Pullin has died at age 32 while spearfishing in Queensland, Australia. Paramedics first announced on Wednesday that "one patient was treated" in a "post-immersion incident off Nineteenth Avenue at Palm Beach," CNN reported.
Gold Coast Police District Duty Officer Chris Tritton later confirmed that it was Pullin who had died at the popular swimming spot where he regularly went spearfishing.
The athlete was reportedly freediving and spearfishing on the reef alone. It is unclear what happened, but another diver found him unconscious and without a mask. He was brought to shore, where emergency services performed CPR for 45 minutes. He could not be resuscitated.
Pullin made his Olympic debut at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, where he placed 17th. Less than a month later he clinched his first World Cup in Valmelenco, Italy, and won silver a week later in La Molina, Spain, according to the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia.
Pullin won his first world championship in 2011 and the accolades kept on coming. He competed in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, where he finished in 13th and went on to win gold in the 2015/2016 final World Cup of the season in Baqueira Beret, Spain.
Pullin made his third Olympic appearance at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, where he finished off in 6th place. In the 2019-2020 season, he placed 21st place at the World Cup event in Sierra Nevada, Spain.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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