Elena Curtoni is deeply affected by the fire disaster on New Year's Eve in Crans-Montana. The Italian World Cup skier knew one of the victims personally.
28.01.2026, 16:47
28.01.2026, 19:16
SDA
The promising young Italian golfer Emanuele Galeppini, who was one of the victims, was an acquaintance of Curtoni, who also knows his parents. "When I traveled to Crans this week, the first thing that came to mind was the accident. It's a difficult time and it really gets to me," said Curtoni in the finish area after the first training session for the downhill on Friday.
Together with some of her colleagues from the Italian national ski team, including Sofia Goggia, Curtoni took part in a short memorial ceremony for the deceased Italian nationals and other victims at the scene of the accident on Wednesday afternoon. The Italian women laid a bouquet of flowers in front of the entrance to the "Le Constellation" bar, followed by a minute's silence.
"We want to show the families of the victims that we are thinking of them and supporting them," said the 34-year-old. From now on, she is trying - "although it won't be easy" (Curtoni) - to focus on sport again as much as possible. Thinking about the past can help her with this.
On a sporting level, Curtoni has very positive associations with Crans-Montana. She triumphed on this slope at the 2011 Junior World Championships in the super-G, and later also achieved podium finishes in the World Cup in the Valais ski resort in both the super-G (2017) and downhill (2021).
