Italian skier Elena Fanchini has died at the age of 37 after a long battle with cancer.
This was announced by the Italian ski association FISI on Wednesday. The speed specialist won 2005 World Championship silver in the downhill. In this discipline she also celebrated her two World Cup victories.
US superstar Mikaela Shiffrin said on the sidelines of the Alpine World Ski Championships in Courchevel and Meribel, France, that she would “never forget” Fanchini.
Fanchini has been plagued with injuries throughout her career, most notably to her knees, which she says were “made of glass”.
She missed the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics and was badly injured on her return later that year after having surgery for a tumour: she fell in training and suffered a broken finger, a broken fibula and a severe contusion of her left knee. In 2020 she retired together with her younger sister Nadia (WM silver 2013 in downhill).