Canadian skating family in shock over tragic death of young Olympian

The Olympic world is mourning the loss of figure skater Alexandra Paul who died in a car crash last week.

Paul, a 31-year-old Canadian, was killed in the multi car accident that also injured her infant son as well as three other adults, officials said.

According to Skate Canada, the sport’s national governing body, Paul was involved in a seven-vehicle collision in Melanchton, a small town in the province of Ontario.

A tractor-trailer crashed into the back of several vehicles lined up in a construction zone on the road. Paul was killed instantly, police said in a news release. Her infant son was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Paul, along with husband and on-ice partner Mitchell Islam, began their skating career together in 2009 and quickly found success. They won the silver medal just a year later at the World Junior Championships, according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.

In all, Paul and Islam won three medals at the Canadian Championships and represented their county at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. The pair finished 18th in the short dance and 16th in the free dance. Their overall score ranked them 18th.

Paul would retire from competitive skating two years later, and eventually obtained her law degree with the University of Windsor. She worked at Barriston Law in Barrie, Ont.