Para Alpine Skier Martina Vozza wins the 26th Matteo Baumgarten Award

The International Matteo Baumgarten Award recognises and rewards athletes who have chosen to undertake tertiary education in addition to their competitive sport. The award was founded by the parents of Matteo Baumgarten, Giacomo and Paolo, as a way to honour the memory of their son and to incentivise athletes to study as well as compete.

The award, now in its 26th year, saw one of the largest and most diverse fields of nominees. Athletes from 11 nations with a wide range of fields of studies, including computer science, business, economics, civil engineering and humanities were nominated.

As founders and judges of the award, Giacomo and Paola took time to analyse each nomination. Over the years, the award is to remember their son but also to pass on those authentic values that marked his albeit brief existence. This year's occasion was very special. As the family of Lorenzo Holzknecht, who died tragically a few days ago following an avalanche in the Aosta Valley, joined the ceremony. Meaning for once in memory of Matteo and Lorenzo, on Sunday evening, all those present gathered in a minute's silence.

Then the official moment came with the delivery of the coveted prize to Martina Vozza, a visually impaired alpine skier who made her debut at the 2021 Paralympic Alpine Ski World Championships, held in Lillehammer, Norway, where she won the bronze medal.

As the winner of the award, Martina joins a long and illustrious list of winners which include Tanja Poutiainen (FIN), Tina Maze (SLO), Bernadette Schild (AUT) and Marco Odermatt (SUI).

FIS and the Baumgarten family would like to thank all nominees and National Ski Associations who participated in this year’s Award.