Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jarrod Bannister has died in the Netherlands overnight.
The champion Australian javelin thrower had been living and training in Europe with his girlfriend.
Bannister, 33, was the national record holder and a popular member of the Australian athletics community.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jarrod Bannister (pictured) has died in the Netherlands overnight
Bannister (pictured after winning gold in Delhi), 33, was the national record holder and a popular member of the Australian athletics community
There were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Bannister’s death, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Fellow gold medallist Sally Pearson paid tribute to Bannister on social media: ‘R.I.P Jarrod Bannister. A talented athlete with so much more to give. You will be missed.’
Athletics Australia chief executive Darren Gocher said the sport’s peak organisation was shocked to learn of Bannister’s death.
‘On behalf of Athletics Australia, I extend our deepest condolences to Jarrod’s family and friends and urge the athletics fraternity to support each other at this difficult time,’ Gocher said in a statement on Friday.
Athletics Australia chief executive Darren Gocher said the sport’s peak organisation was shocked to learn of Bannister’s death (pictured is Bannister at the Commonwealth Games)
Bannister won javelin gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and finished sixth in the final at the 2008 Olympic Games.
The Queenslander made the javelin finals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the Daegu World Championships in 2011.
He won gold at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010, and was controversially banned from the sport in 2013.
The 20 month ban for missing drug tests was imposed after drug testers arrived at his hotel in Cologne, Germany, but were told by staff he had checked out.
Bannister had returned to training following the ban and was attempting to get back into peak form.
His personal best of 89.02metres, set in Brisbane in 2008, remains the current Australian record.
The champion Australian javelin thrower (pictured) had been living and training in Europe with his girlfriend