Heartfelt tributes have poured in for a ‘wonderful’ sports commentator who was tragically hit by a train and killed while out shopping.
Alexander Grishin, 47, was crossing the tracks at Bitsa railway station in Moscow amidst torrential rain when an electric train struck him. Following an investigation, it has been confirmed that there was no foul play involved in his death.
His wife Anastasia, who had a young baby with Grishin, released a brief statement confirming the heartbreaking news. She stated: “Yes, I confirm that he has died. I cannot say anything more. He died as a result of an accident on a railway platform during heavy rain.”
Grishin’s voice resonated with fans across various sports, including football, weightlifting, cycling, synchronised swimming, and diving, but his figure skating commentary was particularly revered.
The Russian Figure Skating Federation honoured Grishin in a Telegram channel, writing: “Alexander was a wonderful person, a professional with a capital letter, he was well versed in figure skating, understood the sport, his comments were always distinguished by depth and tact.
“For domestic figure skating, Alexander Grishin’s departure is a great loss.”
Social media users also expressed their sorrow, with one fan saying: “Huge loss for the Russian skating community,” and another simply said: “RIP Alexander Grishin.”
Grishin embarked on his television career back in 2002 with the 7TV channel in Russia, marking the start of a successful journey in sports broadcasting.
From 2004 to 2015, he served as a commentator on the Sport TV channel (later renamed Russia-2), and from 2015 to 2018, he was part of the Match TV channel.
Since 2018, Grishin had provided commentary on Channel One. His illustrious career includes work at six Olympic Games, as well as World and European championships for figure skating, in addition to four European Championship football tournaments.
Grishin would have been gearing up for his seventh Olympic games with the Winter Olympics scheduled to be held in Italy early next year.