Jonatan Johansson, Swedish Olympic Snowboarder Dies at 26
from StellarMag.com
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (March 12)—Swedish snowboarder Jonatan Johansson died Sunday as a result of injuries suffered from a fall in training for an International Ski Federation (FIS) World Cup snowboardcross (SBX) competition at Whiteface Mountain, authorities said. The FIS competition jury canceled the event.
Johansson, who turned 26 last Tuesday, was on course alone and fell within the field of play on the mountain’s Boreen trail during training, around 9:20 a.m. He was wearing a helmet, as mandated by FIS rules. Doctors and paramedics were with him immediately and treated Johansson on the scene before being transported by ambulance to the Adirondack Medical Center in Lake Placid where a helicopter was prepared for emergency transport.
Boreen is a green rated trail (easier), which had special SBX features constructed for competition.
Adirondack Medical Center staff said Johansson was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. An autopsy to determine the cause of death was expected Monday.
Johansson, of Sollentuna, Sweden, had been competing at the World Cup level since 2000. He had finished 12th in the debut Olympic SBX last month in Italy and was the reigning Swedish and Finnish national SBX champion.
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