Ski cross athlete and Olympic bronze medalist Audun Grønvold has died after being struck by lightning, the Norwegian Ski Federation said Wednesday.
Grønvold, 49, was on a cabin trip when the lightning struck. He was quickly taken to a hospital for treatment and passed away Tuesday evening, the Norwegian Ski Federation said.
The Norwegian competed as a member of the national alpine racing team between 1993 and 2004, notching his best World Cup alpine racing result—a third-place downhill finish—in 1999 in Sierra Nevada, Spain.
Then, he decided to compete in ski cross, where he earned several medals and podium finishes. In this event, athletes race directly against each other in an undulating course with jumps and tight turns.
In 2007, Grønvold claimed the overall ski cross cup and finished third at the 2005 World Championships in Ruka, Finland. During the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, he won a ski cross bronze medal.
Grønvold retired from competition after the Vancouver Winter Olympics. NRK, a Norwegian media outlet, reported that his body had started to indicate that his time as an athlete was over. During the later phase of his career, he had issues with his neck, back, and elbow.
After his retirement, Grønvold was a head coach for the Norwegian ski cross team from 2010 to 2012, as well as a board member of the Ski Federation and a TV commentator. Another Norwegian media outlet, Verdens Gang, also reported that Grønvold sold sports equipment through a company he owned, Grønvold Sports.
“Norwegian skiing has lost a prominent figure, who has meant so much to both the alpine and freestyle communities,” Federation president Tove Moe Dyrhaug said in a translated statement. “There will be a big void after Audun.”
Grønvold is survived by his wife, Kristin Tandberg Haugsjå, and three children.
According to NRK, Haugsjå wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday, “Audun, my great love and my best friend for twenty years... today you left us.”
“The loss of you is enormous,” she added.
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