Vadim Khamuttskikh, owner of three Olympic medals in volleyball dies

Died on Friday (31), aged 52, former Russian volleyball player Vadim Khamuttskikh. For the national team, he was world champion in 1999 and won three Olympic medals: silver in Sydney-2000 and bronze in Athens-2004 and Beijing-2008.

Khamuttskikh had worked for six seasons as coach of Belogorie Belgorod, the team for which he had won two Champions League titles and seven national titles as a setter. According to Gennady Shipulin, vice president of the Russian Volleyball Federation, the cause of death was cardiac arrest suffered just before the turn of the year.

“The honored master of the sport, legendary player, coach and excellent person Vadim Anatolyevich Khamuttskikh has died. This is an irreparable loss for all Russian and world volleyball. Condolences to family and friends”, says a statement published on the club’s official website and shared by the Russian volleyball team.

Khamuttskikh’s body will be held in the Belogorie Belgorod gymnasium and buried on January 4th.

“He was a wonderful guy. We all loved him, the whole city and the whole country. He was a great volleyball figure, a great person and a great player. He always gave his best. We are very, very sad. It’s a huge loss.” Gennady Shipulin told Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

Vadim Khamuttskikh defended the colors of the Russian volleyball team in 237 official matches. A curiosity that marked the player’s career was the use of the nickname “Borodá” (“Beard”) on their uniforms during disputes in national competitions.