Blanca Fernández Ochoa (22 April 1963 – 23 August 2019)''La Policía descarta la muerte accidental y violenta de Blanca Fernández Ochoa ''
elconfidencial.com, 4 September 2019 was a

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 from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, she competed in four

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 ...

, from

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

through

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Career

Her four siblings all competed in alpine ski racing for Spain in the

: Dolores, Francisco,

Juan Manuel Don (honorific), Don Juan Manuel (5 May 128213 June 1348) was a Spanish medieval writer, nephew of Alfonso X of Castile, son of Manuel of Castile and Beatrice of Savoy (died 1292), Beatrice of Savoy. He inherited from his father the great Lordshi ...

, and

Luis Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

Francisco Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco (name), Paco". Francis of Assisi, San Francisco de A ...

(1950–2006) won the gold medal in slalom at the 1972 Olympics in

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. She received the Premio Reina Sofía for best athlete in 1983 and 1988 by

Consejo Superior de Deportes The National Sports Council, also called Supreme Sports Council or High Council for Sports (, CSD) is a Spanish government autonomous agency responsible for the promotion, planning and development of physical culture and sports activities of any ...

at Premios Nacionales del Deporte. She also received the Real Orden del Mérito Deportivo in 1994. At the 1992 Olympics at

Albertville Albertville (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is best k ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, Blanca won the bronze medal in slalom. During her

career, she had 4 victories, 20 podiums, and 69 top ten finishes. On 18 July 1991, she married Italian Daniel Fioretto in the Monastery of

El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (), or (), is a historical residence of the king of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up the valley ( road distance) from the town of El Escorial, Madrid, El ...

. They ended up divorcing and she contracted a second marriage with David Fresneda, with whom she had two children, David (born 2000) and Olivia (born 1999), although this marriage also ended in divorce.''Verdades, mentiras y muchas incógnitas en la desaparición de Blanca Fernández Ochoa''
elcierredigital.com 3. September 2019 The children live with their father. She was reported as missing on 23 August 2019 and found dead by a police officer on 4 September 2019 near La Peñota, in the Guadarrama Mountains. Policía Nacional believed it was not an

accidental death An accidental death is an unnatural death that is caused by an accident, such as a slip and fall, traffic collision, or accidental poisoning. Accidental deaths are distinguished from death by natural causes, disease, and from intentional homici ...

in a safe area and there were not traumas. On 5 September 2019 it was declared she died from a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

because

lithium Lithium (from , , ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the ...

tablets and a

bottle of wine "Bottle of Wine" is a song written and recorded by Tom Paxton, which was a hit for the band The Fireballs, whose version reached #9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1968 and #5 in Canada. It also reached #3 in South Africa. The song, which inclu ...

were found near her body. She died the same day of the disappearance at the age of 56.

The Blanca Foundation

After her death from suicide Blanca's sister Lola Fernández Ochoa founded The Blanca Foundation. The foundation is dedicated to promoting mental health awareness and providing support to individuals facing mental health challenges. Through its various programs and initiatives, the foundation works to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, offering resources, education, and a platform for open discussions. It focuses on providing accessible mental health services, including counseling and therapeutic support, to underserved communities. By partnering with experts, organizations, and local communities, the Blanca Foundation strives to create a more inclusive, empathetic society where mental health is prioritized, and people have the tools they need to lead healthier, more fulfilling lives.

World Cup results

Season standings

Points were only awarded for top ten finishes thru 1979, top 15 thru 1991 (see scoring system).

Race victories

* 4 wins (1 GS, 3 SL) * 20 podiums (12 GS, 8 SL), 69 top tens

World Championship results

From

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

through

, the

were also the

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 ...

for alpine skiing.
At the World Championships from

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).

Olympic results

References

External links

*
Blanca Fernandez-Ochoa
World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez Ochoa, Blanca 1963 births 2019 deaths 2010s missing person cases Alpine skiers at the 1980 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Formerly missing Spanish people Competitors at the 1985 Winter Universiade Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Missing person cases in Spain Olympic alpine skiers for Spain Olympic bronze medalists for Spain Olympic medalists in alpine skiing Spanish female alpine skiers Skiers from Madrid FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Spain Winter World University Games medalists in alpine skiing 2019 suicides Drug-related suicides in Spain 20th-century Spanish sportswomen