Athletics: European champion electrocuted

Oleg Tverdokhleb, who won the European 400 metres hurdles title in Helsinki last year, has been electrocuted while repairing wiring in his parents' house.

The 25-year-old Ukrainian died on Sunday in Dnepropetrovsk and was buried on Tuesday, according to a spokesman for the Ukrainian athletic federation. Earlier reports said he had been struck by lightning while out walking.

Tverdokhleb, who finished sixth in the event in the 1992 Olympic Games, leaves a wife, Svetlana, a medallist at the recent World Student Games in Fukuoka, and a four-year-old son.