Italian skier Matteo Franzoso, 25, died on Monday after a fall on Saturday during training in Chile, the Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI) announced.
“He died in a clinic in Santiago, Chile” and “did not survive (…) the cerebral edema following” his fall on a track in La Parva, 50 km from the capital Santiago, Fisi said in a press release.
Ten Italian skiers had gathered in Chile since the beginning of September to prepare for the next ski season with the focus on the Winter Olympics in Italy, in February in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Matteo Franzoso distinguished himself in the junior categories, notably finishing fourth in downhill at the Junior World Championship in 2020 in Narvik, Norway.
Since his professional debut in 2021, he has participated in 17 Alpine Skiing World Cup races.
“It’s incredibly sad. Three weeks ago, I was skiing on this same slope… Rest in peace, Matteo,” American skier Lindsey Vonn, multiple world champion and 2010 Olympic champion, lamented on Instagram.
This is the second death of an Italian skier in just over a year. In October 2024, Matilde Lorenzi, a member of the junior group of the Italian ski team, died at the age of 19 after a fall during training on the Grawand G1 slope in Val Senales (northeast of Italy).
