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Italian skier Matteo Franzoso died just days before his 26th birthday after he sustained a serious head injury in a crash during training in Chile over the weekend, officials confirmed this week.
The Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI) released a statement confirming the death of 25-year-old Franzoso, who was fatally injured Saturday when he crashed during a training session in La Parva, approximately 30 miles outside Santiago, Chile.
Matteo Franzoso of Italy competes during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup men’s downhill in Kitzbuehel, Austria, on Jan. 25, 2025. (Severin Aichbauer/SEPA.Media /Getty Images)
According to officials, Franzoso crashed into a fence while attempting a small jump. He was “immediately” reached by an air ambulance and taken to an intensive care unit, where he was put into a medically induced coma.
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FISI said Monday that he died as a result of the head injury and a resulting cerebral edema. His 26th birthday was Tuesday.
“This is a tragedy for the family and for our sport,” FISI president Flavio Roda said in a statement. “It’s a tragedy that brings us back to the state of mind we had just under a year ago, when Matilde Lorenzi passed away.”
Matteo Franzoso of Italy reacts after crashing in the men’s downhill of the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup in Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, on Nov. 26, 2022. (Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports)
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Italian skier Matilde Lorenzi died less than a year ago in October 2024 after a fall during a training session. She was 19.
“It’s absolutely essential to do everything possible to ensure that such incidents never happen again,” Roda’s statement continued. “In this sad and painful moment, I want to tell all athletes and coaches, in every sport, that the Federation is by their side and that they will find all the support they need. I ask for the utmost respect for Matteo’s family, to whom we will remain close in every way necessary.”
Italy’s Matteo Franzoso competes during a men’s World Cup super-G skiing race, Dec. 4, 2022, in Beaver Creek, Colorado. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, file)
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Franzoso won a super-G race on the second-tier Europa Cup circuit in 2021, having finished fourth in the downhill at the World Junior Championships in 2020. He competed in 17 World Cup races — 11 super-Gs and six downhills. His best World Cup result was 28th in a super-G in Cortina d’Ampezzo in January 2023.
Franzoso was training with Italian team standouts Dominik Paris, Christof Innerhofer, Mattia Casse and others ahead of the Milan-Cortina Olympics in February.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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