July 29 (UPI) — An international team is trying to rescue badly injured former Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier from a peak on Pakistan’s Karakoram Mountains.
A falling rock struck and seriously injured Dahlmeier, 31, on Monday while she was scaling Laila Peak in the Karakoram Mountains in northeastern Pakistan, according to Explorersweb.
“Dahlmeier was climbing with her mountaineering partner … when she was caught in a rockfall,” her management team said in a statement to German broadcaster ZDF.
“The accident took place around noon local time at an altitude of approximately [18,700 feet],” the management team said.
“Her partner immediately called emergency services, and a rescue operation began immediately,” her management team explained.
“Due to the remoteness of the area, a helicopter was only able to reach the site of the accident on the morning of July 29.”
An international rescue team of mountaineers is trying to reach Dahlmeier, who is “at least seriously injured” and showed “no signs of life” when observed by the helicopter crew.
Her climbing partner has joined the other mountaineers and might have reached her already, but the rescue effort was halted when darkness fell on Tuesday evening.
The rescue attempt will resume Wednesday morning, ZDF Heute reported.
Dahlmeier is one of Germany’s most successful biathletes of the past decade and won two gold medals during the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea.
She was the first athlete to win two gold medals during the 2018 games when she triumphed in the women’s 10km pursuit with a time of 30:35.3.
Dahlmeier also won a gold in the 7.5km sprint and a bronze in the 15km individual event during the 2018 Winter Olympics.
She won a total of seven gold medals in the world championships and eight other medals before retiring at age 25 in 2019.
The biathlon combines cross-country skiing with rifle target shooting, which tests athletes’ ability to ski long distances and shoot accurately while their heart rates and breathing are elevated.