Law enforcement agencies are investigating the death of 17-year-old three-time Moscow handball champion German Tikhonov. According to the preliminary version, the young man committed suicide, since no trace of violent death was found on his body.
It is reported that the tragedy occurred even on November 30, the birthday of the athlete, but only now the details of what happened have become known. This was reported in the press service of the Handball Federation of Russia.
“Indeed, we have information that this tragedy occurred, but we don’t know the circumstances. The guy born in 2001 was engaged in the school "Sparrow Hills", won children's competitions at the level of Moscow. For the last two years, he almost did not study and did not play, ”quotes representatives of the organization Moscow 24.
The general director of the Federation, Lev Voronin, also confirmed the death of Tikhonov. He added that for all the friends of the athlete what happened was a real shock.
“Herman was really good at playing handball. On Sunday he was supposed to take part in the match. From the words of people who directly knew and saw him, he was a promising guy. But now no one can give any intelligible explanations. There were no prerequisites for this, ”the RIA Novosti official said.
In turn, some details of the tragedy were revealed by the coach of the youth handball team “Palace” David Danelia, who worked with the young man for a long time.
According to him, on the day of his death, Tikhonov went to work for his sister, where his 17th birthday was to be celebrated. However, he never reached the destination. At the same time, according to the expert, nothing indicated that the young man plans to commit suicide.
“I called Herman, congratulated him on his birthday. He had a normal voice, cheerful, nothing foreshadowed trouble. As I understand it, at that time he was just leaving his apartment and was not drunk, ”quotes the words of Danelia Sport24.
The movement of the handball player was recorded by an outdoor video surveillance camera, on the records of which it is clear that Tikhonov was alone before his death. With him he had a mobile phone, which, however, crashed in the fall. Currently, investigators are trying to recover electronic data.
Death ward deeply shook Danelia. In his opinion, Tikhonov has always been a role model for his peers, and he never had any problems with him.
“I have known Hermann since the age of eight, a good, clever boy. Did not smoke at all, did not drink. Did he have any enemies? I dont know. It seemed to be normal with everyone, he was loved, the attention of the girls was not deprived, ”the specialist noted.
The coach confirmed the information that Tikhonov decided for some time to interrupt his career, but added that he did not plan to leave the sport completely.
“A couple of years ago, he moved to the Mathematics Lyceum, where he studied very well. But just recently, a few months ago, he called me, asked to be back in the team with his friend. On Sunday there should have been a game, ”added Danelia.
The handball player's funeral will be held December 6 in Moscow.
The death of Tikhonov was the second tragedy in the Russian sport since the beginning of December. Earlier it became known about the death of 18-year-old pupil of the Moscow football club Lokomotiv Alexei Lomakin, who was found dead on the banks of the river on the night of December 3.
The results of the initial examination showed that the athlete died from hypothermia. According to experts, at the time of the death of a player could be in a state of intoxication.