According to unofficial data, J. Šuklinas unexpectedly collapsed at his homestead on Thursday. Later, the arriving medics tried to resuscitate him, but unsuccessfully.
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It is assumed that the 40-year-old may have suffered a heart attack.
The president of LTOK shared her thoughts with LRT.lt journalist Mykolas Jankaitis.
“We trained together, but we are still from different generations. Perhaps that makes the shock even greater, because both a top-level athlete and, of course, a young person who could still live, create, and do good deeds.
<…> A young person, so very sad, hard to comprehend mentally. Together with my colleagues, we cannot believe this happened,” D. Gudzinevičiūtė told LRT.
J. Šuklinas was born on November 23, 1985, in Russia, graduated from Mykolas Romeris University with a degree in public administration and earned a master’s degree.
Before his political career, he was a long-time Lithuanian canoeist and Olympic vice-champion. At the 2012 London Olympics, he won a silver medal. However, this title was later stripped from him after it was recognized that the athlete used doping.
The athlete and politician was also a multiple prize-winner at the World and European Championships.
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