Golden birthday present for Italy’s Elisa Fava

Emotions ran high on the last day of snowboarding at the Torino 2025 FISU World University Games as Fava crossed the finish line first in the big final of the women’s parallel slalom on Wednesday, 22 January.

The gold medallist was overwhelmed with emotion as she made her way through the cheering crowd, greeted by her team, coaches, and family. In a heartfelt moment, she dedicated her gold medal to her late friend Matilde Lorenzi, a skier who tragically lost her life last October during a training crash in South Tyrol.

“This gold medal means a lot to me, especially because I wanted to dedicate it to Matilde, confessed Elisa Fava. My priority in these Games was to honour her memory. This is for you, Matty. I hope you are watching me from up there,” the winner shared as she showed her helmet with a sun symbol honouring her friend.

Adding to the significance of her win, the Italian celebrated her 22^nd birthday on Wednesday. “You know, 22 really is my lucky number,” she remarked with a smile.

During the race, Fava experienced a whirlwind of emotions. “It’s incredible to think about what goes through your mind during the descent. You just keep telling yourself, ‘I can do it! I can do it!’, and then you push, push, and push again,” the University of Turin psychology student explained.

This gold medal was particularly meaningful as it marked her return to the top of the podium in an event in which she sought redemption, after being disqualified during the small final at the Lake Placid 2023 FISU Games. Despite her busy schedule competing in the 2024-25 FIS Snowboard World Cup, Fava remained determined to give off a peak performance after her disappointment from Lake Placid.

“I was very tired coming into this race. It’s been a challenging period for me, especially since this is my first World Cup season. But my mission was to come here and do what I couldn’t finish in Lake Placid for this particular event,” she reflected.

At the Torino Games, Fava’s hard work paid off as she not only won gold in the parallel slalom but also secured a silver medal in the parallel giant slalom earlier this week.

Austria’s Carmen Kainz , who took home the silver medal in the parallel slalom, has been a familiar opponent to Fava. “I really appreciate Carmen’s competition. We’ve raced together in many tournaments,” she said, acknowledging the friendly rivalry. The two also faced off in the snowboard slalom events during the Lake Placid Games.

The bronze medal was claimed by another Austrian, 22-year-old Ankele Martina from the University of Klagenfurt, who narrowly defeated Japan’s Kanazawa Noa from Chukyo University in the b final.

Fava expressed immense pride in her accomplishment, not just for herself but also for Italy. “Italy has a strong tradition in skiing and snowboarding, and we’ve won a lot of gold medals in these events. I’m proud to contribute to our success.”

Looking ahead, she hopes her victory will inspire younger generations to pursue their dreams. “Anyone can win a medal as long as they are determined and put in the effort,” she advised, offering encouragement to aspiring athletes.

Pink reigns supreme, defends men’s title

On the men’s side, Austria’s Matthäus Pink made history by securing his second consecutive FISU Games gold medal in the parallel slalom. The 23-year-old from the University of Graz, who was also crowned in Lake Placid, demonstrated his dominance once again, outpacing Italy’s Simon Dorfmann by 2.76 seconds in the big final.

Meanwhile, in the small final for bronze, Bulgaria’s Alexander Krashniak took the top spot, while Ukraine’s Nestor Bilous was disqualified.

The Torino 2025 FISU World University Games take place from 13-23 January. Watch all the competitions live on fisu.tv. Click on the link to find the full schedule.

Written by Esther Owusua Appiah-Fei, FISU Young Reporter, Ghana

The Young Reporters Programme exemplifies FISU’s commitment to more than sports competitions. At every FISU World University Games, a group of talented aspiring sports journalists are chosen to cover the competition.

We warmly thank FISU Official Partner Qiaodan Ltd. which provides remarkable uniforms to FISU Family and International Technical Officials since 2015. Qiaodan is a valuable partner for FISU as it continued to provide its support during the postponement of events due to the global pandemic, and recently extended the relationship with FISU up to and including 2025.