Teenage skiing champion killed in training crash

A teenage junior champion skier has died after a horror crash during a training session in her home nation of Italy.

Matilde Lorenzi, 19, plunged to her death while careering down a slope in Val Senales, the country’s defence ministry said. Tributes were paid from across the sport as well as from the nation’s leaders.

Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her “great sadness”, while Italian president Sergio Mattarella stated his “sincere emotion”.

Lindsey Vonn, the former US Olympian, described Lorenzi’s death as “a tragic loss” and said she was “sending [her] thoughts to her family”, while Mikaela Shiffrin added: “So much love to her family, friends, and teammates.”

‘Honouring her memory today and always’

Lorenzi was an Italian junior champion last season and her older sister Lucrezia is also a competitive skier. The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) said it extended its “deepest condolences following the tragic loss of Matilde Lorenzi”.

“FIS is in mourning, standing by her family, friends, and everyone who cherished Matilde, honouring her memory today and always,” it said, adding that rising star Lorenzi competed at the junior world championships last season, finishing sixth in the downhill contest and eighth in the super-G event. She also raced on the second-tier European Cup circuit.

Italian ski star Sofia Goggia posted a short message on social media calling for prayer, captioned by a black and white photo of Lorenzi, a photo also used by FIS to extend its “deepest condolences”.

Lorenzi was a member of the Italian Army, who also paid homage to her. “On behalf of the entire Italian Army family and on my own behalf, I would like to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Corporal Matilde Lorenzi, who lost her life in a tragic accident during training at Val Senales,” army chief of staff Carmine Masiello said in a statement.