Figure skating-Russian two-time Olympic pairs champion Dmitriev dies

June 29 : Russian figure skater Artur Dmitriev, the only male pairs skater to win Olympic gold twice with different partners, has died in Moscow at the age of 58, one of his former partners told TASS news agency on Monday.

Oksana Kazakova, who won gold with Dmitriev at the 1998 Nagano Games, told TASS that Dmitriev had not survived heart surgery in a Moscow hospital and died on Sunday evening.

TASS said she described him as a "wonderful person and a unique athlete".

Dmitriev also won gold in 1992 as part of the post-Soviet Unified Team at Albertville with Natalia Mishkutionok.

With Mishkutionok, Dmitriev also won a silver at the 1994 Lillehammer Games and was twice world champion in 1991 and 1992.

With Kazakova as his partner, he won the 1996 European championship.