Line à stvold, World Cup winner from Norway, dies in Chile following injuries

Line Østvold, World Cup winner from Norway, dies in Chile following head and neck injuries{mosimage}Line Østvold, a Norwegian World Cup snowboarder who received severe head and neck injuries last week in Chile, has passed away. The accident occured during official training for the snowboardcross event of the FIS Snowboard World Cup in Valle Nevado, Chile on Tuesday, September 14th.

While negotiating a technical section of the course, the double rollers, she fell awkwardly on her head and neck. According to the FIS, on-site medical care was given immediately before she was flown by air ambulance to a specialist clinic in Santiago.

The 26 year old who finished first and second in snowboardcross World Cup events in the previous season never regained consciousness and passed away on Sunday, September 19th at approximately 11:00 local time.

An English-language story indicating has been posted at the website of Aftenpost, a Norwegian newspaper.

Østvold, who has raced in FIS competitions and the ESPN Winter X Games, was 26.