The British Olympic Association is saddened to hear of the sudden passing of snowboard cross athlete Ellie Soutter, aged 18.
Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this sad time.https://t.co/MyyHv2Kf2z pic.twitter.com/3LpQHqOhH4
— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 26, 2018
Late last week, the official Twitter account for the Great Britain Olympic team released a statement announcing the sudden death of 18-year-old snowboarder Ellie Soutter. There were no details on the young athlete’s death but it was later learned that Soutter had taken her own life, apparently after missing a flight to a training session with Team Great Britain.
Soutter was a bright young star for England who won bronze as a 17-year-old last year at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in Erzurum, Turkey. It was her country’s only medal at the festival.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQlRSBglTRn/?taken-by=elliesoutter
This week, her father, Tony, spoke about her daughter’s death for the first time in a heart-wrenching interview: “Mental health awareness needs to be really looked at and made more public,” he told the BBC. “She wanted to be the best. She didn’t want to let anybody down. Unfortunately, it all came about from missing a flight which then meant she didn’t go to training with the GB squad. She felt she’d let them down, felt she’d let me down and just tragically it just takes one silly little thing like that to tip someone over the edge because there’s a lot of pressure on children.”
Soutter grew up in England but had lived with her father in Les Gets in the French Alps since 2010 where she was reportedly discovered by UK Olympic officials. Soutter competed in boardercross and in junior events on the Freeride World Tour. She was expected to make the 2022 Olympic team for the Beijing Olympics. Her body was apparently found in a wooded area near her home in France just before she was set to celebrate her 18th birthday.
