​Russian biathlete Galina Kukleva, who took sprint gold at the 1998 Winter Olympics, has died at the age of 53.”The Russian Biathletes’ Union extends its deepest condolences to the relatives, friends, colleagues and pupils of Galina,” the association said in a statement on Tuesday.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAccording to Russian media, Kukleva had long been suffering from cancer.Alongside Olympic gold in Nagano, she won relay golds at world championships in 2000, 2001 and 2003.After ending her career as an athlete in 2003, she worked as a professor at the sports faculty of the State University in Tyumen, Siberia.