Burry Stander, a two-time mountain bike Olympian, was killed in a road accident while training near his home Thursday.
The 25-year-old South African died after colliding with a taxi in the Kwazulu-Natal province on the east coast, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee said.
Stander finished fifth in last year's London Olympics and he competed in Beijing 2008. He was also a former under-19 and under-23 world champion and South Africa's biggest star in the sport and one of the world's top riders.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks