Elena Fanchini (30 April 1985 – 8 February 2023) was an Italian

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

alpine ski racer Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether ...

. Born in

Val Camonica Val Camonica or Valcamonica (), also Valle Camonica and anglicized as Camonica Valley, is one of the largest valleys of the central Alps, in eastern Lombardy, Italy. It extends about from the Tonale Pass to Corna Trentapassi, in the c ...

, she focused on the speed events of downhill and

super-G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event ...

. Her younger sisters

Nadia Nadia is a female name. Variations include Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia. Most variations of the name are derived from Arabic, Slavic languages, or both. In many Slavic languages, names similar to ''Nadia'' mean "hope": Ukrainia ...

and

Sabrina Sabrina may refer to: People and fictional characters * Sabrina (given name), a feminine given name, including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Hafren, known in English as Sabrina, a British princess in Welsh mythology ...

also raced on the Italian team.

Biography

Fanchini won two World Cup races in downhill 9 years apart and won a silver medal at the 2005 world championships. She represented Italy at three

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

and six

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Illness and death

On 12 January 2018, Fanchini announced that she would not compete in the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang ( , ; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seo ...

in order to undergo

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

treatment. That November, she was preparing to return to the World Cup; during training in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at Copper Mountain,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, she fell and suffered a fracture of a finger of the hand and a distortion-bruising trauma to the left

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

, with fracture of the proximal

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

. The injury forced her to return to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and miss the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

season. On 22 April 2020, sisters Elena and Nadia Fanchini announced their retirement from racing. At age 37, Fanchini died from colon cancer on 8 February 2023 at

Pian Camuno Pian Camuno ( Camunian: ; locally ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is situated in the lower part of Val Camonica Val Camonica or Valcamonica (), also Valle Camonica and anglicized as Camonica Valley, is o ...

World Cup results

Season standings

Race podiums

* 2 wins – (2 DH) * 4 podiums – (4 DH); 25 top tens (20 DH, 5 SG)

World Championship results

2017 Audi FIS Ski Weltcup Garmisch-Partenkirchen Damen - Elena Fanchini - by 2eight - 8SC0172

Olympic results

National titles

Elena Fanchini won 7 national titles. *

Italian Alpine Ski Championships The Italian Alpine Ski Championships () are the national championships in alpine skiing, organised every year by the Federazione Italiana Sport Invernali (FISI). 2023 edition held in La Thuile, Aosta Valley from 21 ti 25 March 2023. Results All ...

**Downhill: 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 (7)

References

External links

* * * ' (Fanchini Sisters) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fanchini, Elena 1985 births 2023 deaths Sportspeople from Lovere Deaths from colorectal cancer in Italy Deaths from cancer in Lombardy Skiers from the Province of Bergamo Italian female alpine skiers Alpine skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers for Italy Alpine skiers of Fiamme Gialle Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics 21st-century Italian sportswomen