After violent training
Ski ace dies just one day before his birthday
Updated on September 15th, 2025 – 8:53 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
A tragic accident in South America has deeply shaken the ski world. A few weeks before the start of the Olympic season, an Italian athlete is killed.
After a violent fall in the Chilean La Parva, ski racer Matteo Franzoso died. This was confirmed by the Italian winter sports association FISI on Monday. The 25-year-old had misjudged a relatively small jump on Saturday and subsequently had strayed from the slopes. He had broken two safety nets and crashed into a fence.
Franzoso was brought to a clinic in the capital Santiago after the accident. There the doctors diagnosed a traumatic brain trauma and put the athlete into the artificial coma. Despite the medical measures, he did not survive. According to media reports, his parents and brother immediately flown to Chile after the accident to be with Franzoso.
Italy’s association president Flavio Roda spoke of a “tragedy for his family and for our sport” and a “drama that moves us back into the mood of almost a year ago when Matilde Lorenzi died. It is absolutely necessary to do everything so that such incidents do not repeat themselves.”
The 19-year-old Lorenzi had fallen heavily on the Schnalstaler glacier in October last year and opened his head on the slopes. The young Italian succumbed to her injuries on the same day.
Franzoso would have turned 26 on Tuesday. He started in the World Cup in 2021 and had previously completed 17 elite missions in departure and Super-G. He drove in the top 30th twice in Chile, he wanted to prepare for the new season together with the Italian team, including top star Dominik Paris.