Line Østvold

Line Lunde Østvold (November 7, 1978 – September 19, 2004) was a professional snowboarder from Haugsbygda near Hønefoss, Norway. She specialized in Snowboard Cross (downhill obstacle) events.

In 2001, she was ranked the number one World Female Boardercross Athlete as well as ESPN Winter X Games Boardercross Champion. After a bruised collarbone injury in 2002, she decided to retire, but when it was announced that her event would be included in the 2006 Winter Olympics, she re-entered the sport.

On September 14, 2004, Østvold was practicing with the Norwegian national snowboard team in Valle Nevado in Chile, in preparation for an FIS World Cup Snowboard Cross 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, but never regained consciousness and died five days later, at the age of 25.

External links

# [http://expn.go.com/expn/athleteBio?id=2544 X Games mini biography and competition history]
# [http://pub.tv2.no/multimedia/na/archive/00163/Lene__stvold_220_163365a.jpgNorwegian TV photo]
# [http://i.timeinc.net/snow/content/images/LineOstvold.jpgPhoto by Kurt Hoy]