PARIS (AP) — Former Olympic snowboarder Julie Pomagalski of France died in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps earlier this week. She was 40.
The French Ski Federation says Pomagalski died Tuesday. It did not specify the location of the avalanche but French and Swiss media reported that it took place on Gemsstock mountain in the Swiss canton of Uri.
Pomagalski competed in the parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and the 2006 Turin Games.
She won gold in the snowboard cross at the world championships in 1999.
Local police say four people from France were free-riding on the descent from Gemsstock when the avalanche struck, and that two were “completely covered.”
