Line Lunde Østvold (7 November 1978 – 19 September 2004) was a Norwegian professional

snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar ...

er who specialized in

snowboard cross Snowboard cross, also known as boardercross, is a snowboard competition in which four to six competitors race down a course. Snowboard cross courses are typically quite narrow and include cambered turns, various types of jumps, berms, rollers, ...

(downhill obstacle) events. In 2001, she was ranked the number one World Female Boardercross Athlete as well as

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

Winter

X Games The X Games are a series of action sports events founded by ESPN Inc. and aired on ESPN networks and ABC. In late 2022, ESPN sold the long-running property to MSP Sports Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Jahm Najafi and Jeff Mo ...

Boardercross Champion. After a bruised

collarbone The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavicle is the ...

injury in 2002, she decided to retire, but when it was announced that her event would be included in the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...

, she re-entered the sport. On 14 September 2004, Østvold was practicing with the Norwegian national snowboard team in

Valle Nevado Valle Nevado (() - ''Snowy Valley'' in the Spanish language) is a ski resort located on the El Plomo foothills in the Andes Mountains, at 46 km to the east of Santiago, the capital of Chile. Founded in 1988 by French entrepreneurs, it includ ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, in preparation for an FIS World Cup race. She fell on a technical section of the course called the double rollers, suffering head and neck injuries which proved to be fatal. She was flown to a specialty clinic in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

, but never regained

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...

and died five days later, at the age of 25. Her father Dag Bjørn Østvold and her maternal grandfather Johnny Lunde were alpine skiers on a national level. She hailed from Haugsbygda near

Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2022 ...

References

X Games mini biography and competition history
Norwegian TV photoPhoto by Kurt Hoy
-> 1978 births 2004 deaths People from Ringerike (municipality) Sportspeople from Buskerud Norwegian female snowboarders Sport deaths in Chile {{Norway-snowboarding-bio-stub