Olympian Elena Petushkova dies

Olympic dressage gold medalist Elena Petushkova has died at the age of 66 after a long illness, the Russian Equestrian Federation has reported.

Petushkova, riding for the USSR, won an individual silver medal and was in the gold-medal winning team at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany.

She was also World Champion at Aachen in 1970 riding Pepel, and was 15-time champion of the Soviet Union.

She was president of the Russian Equestrian Federation from 1996 to 1999, and was a vice president of the Soviet Union Olympic Committee from 1983 to 1991. In later years she was head coach of the Russian National Dressage Team.