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 concept i ...

alpine ski racer. Born in

Val Camonica Val Camonica (also ''Valcamonica'' or Camonica Valley, Eastern Lombard dialect, Eastern Lombard: ''Al Camònega'') is one of the largest valleys of the central Alps, in eastern Lombardy, Italy. It extends about from the Tonale Pass to ...

, she focused on the speed events of

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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 d ...

. 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 Slavic, names similar to ''Nadia'' mean "hope" in many Slavic languages: ...

and

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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

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and six

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Illness and death

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

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...

at Pyeongchang in order to undergo

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

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

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at Copper Mountain,

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

fibula The fibula 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. Its upper extremity i ...

. The injury forced her to return to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and miss the

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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 (also ''Valcamonica'' or Camonica Valley, Eastern Lombard dialect, Eastern Lom ...

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

References

External links

* * * ' (Fanchini Sisters) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fanchini, Elena 1985 births 2023 deaths People from Lovere Deaths from cancer in Lombardy Sportspeople 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 of Italy Alpine skiers of Fiamme Gialle Alpine skiers at the 2014 Winter Olympics