Italian skier Matteo Franzoso died just days before his 26th birthday after suffering a fatal head injury during a training crash in Chile.

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. 

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." 

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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."

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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