Olympic champion Maria Shurochkina badly burned in Moscow apartment fire

Two-time Olympic synchronised swimming champion Maria Shurochkina has been hospitalised with serious burns after a fire in her apartment in Moscow, Russian media report.

What happened?

The fire broke out in a flat in a residential building in the west of Moscow, emergency services told the TASS news agency. Shurochkina was taken to the Sklifosovsky Institute, one of the capital's main emergency hospitals.

The preliminary version is that safety rules for using a bio-fireplace were broken. The outlet Mash reports that her clothes caught fire while she was refilling it.

How serious is her condition?

According to the Moscow city news agency, she has burns to her hands and chest. Mash reports that more than 30% of her body surface is affected, including skin on the head, neck, chest, abdomen, arms and hands. The outlet says doctors assess her condition as serious. TASS reports that she is in intensive care.

The Russian Aquatics Federation said it knows about her hospitalisation and is ready to give the athlete and her family the support they need.

Who is Maria Shurochkina?

Shurochkina is 31. She has won 11 world championship golds and six European titles. She was part of the Russian team that took Olympic gold in the team event at Rio 2016, and she won a second team gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021, competing for the Russian Olympic Committee.

She is also the younger sister of pop singer Nyusha. The two won the second season of the TV show "Treasures of the Emperor" on the TNT channel.

The details of the fire and her treatment come from media reports and preliminary information, and the exact cause has not been confirmed.