World

Olympic swimming champion fighting for her life after suffering horror burns in blaze at her luxury apartment

By Linda Ikeji 9 November 2026, 7:09 pm

A Russian Olympic swimming champion is fighting for her life after her clothes caught fire at her luxury Moscow flat.

Maria Shurochkina, a double gold medallist and 11-time world champion, was rushed to hospital with horrific burns after the incident involving a bioethanol fireplace.

Doctors are battling to save the synchronised swimming star amid fears of potentially fatal complications, including burn shock, dehydration, and infection.

Her condition was first described as “moderate” but deteriorated to “serious”, reported Russian Telegram channel Mash.

According to The Sun UK, Shurochkina suffered acute damage to the skin on her head, neck, chest, abdomen, arms, and hands.

It was reported that Shurochkina was refilling a bioethanol fireplace in her luxury four-bedroom penthouse on the 17th floor of the residential complex in western Moscow. The flammable vapours ignited, setting her clothes on fire.

Shurochkina was then found screaming and writhing in pain in the stairwell.

An ambulance rushed her to Moscow’s Sklifosovsky Emergency Research Institute.

Shurochkina is one of Russia‘s most decorated synchronised swimmers, winning Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and again at the Tokyo Games held in 2021.

Vladimir Putin awarded her the Order of Friendship in 2016 and the Order of Honour in 2021.