Russian volleyball coach commits suicide, with colleagues blaming poor Olympic showing for his death
By Cameron Smith | Fourth-Place Medal – 22 hours ago
The aftermath of a poor Olympic showing for Russia may have become even more dire on Wednesday, when the coach of the country's women's volleyball team was found hanged in his hotel room with some blaming the team's poor results at the London Games for his death.
Former Russian women's volleyball coach Sergey Ovchinnikov — Getty
As reported by Eurosport and a handful of other outlets, 43-year-old Russian volleyball coach Sergey Ovchinnikov (also spelled Sergei in some outlets) was found hanged in a hotel room while he and his Dynamo Moscow squad were taking part in preseason training in Croatia. Ovchinnikov had recently finished a turbulent Olympic campaign leading the Russian women's volleyball team. The national team had entered as favorites but was eventually eliminated by Brazil in the quarterfinals, failing to convert a whopping six match points in the loss.
While there is certainly no proof that Ovchinnikov's death was brought on by the national team's poor results, two of his colleagues insisted that it played a part in the suicide.
"He took the Olympics very personally," Russian men's volleyball coach Vladimir Alekno told RT.com. "I saw what he was going through and how upset he was after the defeat. He didn't talk much. Even after victories he was always thinking about something and smoked a lot."
According to Sovetsky Sports news service, Ovchinnikov had also complained of recurring headaches in recent days, a malady which may or may not be connected to the Olympics and the stress it brought.
Regardless of reason, another of Ovchinnikov's former colleagues was distraught at the news of the coach's death, insisting that his suicide was simply the result of an irrational reaction to a single tournament.
"This is so stupid," former Russian women's volleyball coach Vladimir Kuzyutkin told Russian News Service. "He was my friend, my colleague. No one said a bad word about him. Yes, there was a blunder at the Olympics, well, to hell with it."
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