French skiing phenom, 18, killed in crash while training on slope before big event
A teenage French skiing phenom was killed in a crash while training for a competition in the French Alps this weekend, according to reports.Margot Simond, 18, — who was the French U18 slalom champion — was prepping for a Red Bull Alpine on Thursday when she fell, according to the BBC.It wasn’t clear what caused the fatal crash, but a doctor responded and was unable to resuscitate her on the scene, the outlet reported.Her death shocked the international ski community, including US Olympians Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn, who shared their condolences on a post from the International Ski and Snowboard Federation.“The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) has learned with great sadness of the tragic passing of Margot Simond, a promising young athlete,” the organization wrote Thursday in a post on Instagram.“Sincere condolences to the family,” Vonn, 40, commented on the post, along with broken heart and prayer hands emojis.Shiffrin, 30, also commented broken heart and prayer hands emojis.The French Ski Federation said on Facebook that its community was “deeply affected and saddened by Margot’s passing,” and said she was an “aspiring competitor.”Simond competed at the 2025 FIS Junior World Championships in Tarvisio, Italy, last month and days later won the French national junior slalom title in Les Menuires, according to the International Olympic Committee.Simond had been competing internationally since 2023, according to the FIS, and earned multiple first-place finishes in French National Junior Championships and FIS sanctioned races since then.
She competed in different races including downhill and slalom, where skiers zigzag through a course marked with poles.This weekend’s event, which was organized by Olympic champion Clément Noël, was canceled after the tragic accident.Additional details about Simond’s death were not immediately known but she was training on the Envers de Bellevarde, an expert, black-rated slope at the p...