The 32-year-old, who competed at Rio 2016 and finished 15^th overall in the men’s 69 kilograms category, was shot several times after an argument in a bar on Saturday (December 2), according to local reports.

Colombian newspaper El Espectador reports that the incident occurred in a “commercial establishment” in the Villa de las Palmas area.

The Palmira Government is offering a reward of COP$10.1 million (£2,500/$3,400/€2,800) for information relating to the killing.

Mosquera Roa was a professional soldier, serving 14 years in the Battalion of Engineers Agustin Codazzi of Palmira.

The Colombian Olympic Committee described the athlete as one of the country’s "most prominent" weightlifters of recent times.

A tribute was paid to him by the Colombian Federation for the Lifting of Weights.

"The lifting of weights is in mourning, Edwin Mosquera, outstanding athlete who represented Colombia in the past Olympic Games Rio 2016, passed away yesterday, and our deepest condolences to his family and friends," they wrote on Twitter.

Mosquera Roa was a silver medallist at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.

He also won gold medals at the 2008 and 2010 Pan American Championships and silver at the 2016 edition.

The news of his passing comes during the 2017 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships here.

As of the end of yesterday's action, Colombia were fourth in the medal table with three golds, three silvers and five bronzes.

insidethegames has contacted the IWF for comment.