A young cross-country skier has experienced dramatic moments. © Instagram

The fate of this 18-year-old is moving the winter sports world.

In the winter sports world, the fate of an 18-year-old Austrian woman is causing a stir: she narrowly escaped death.

July 22, 2026

From: sportsnews

At the tender age of 18, one is usually just at the very beginning of a career. This was also true for Katharina Engelhardt. The young Austrian was a talented cross-country skier who demonstrated her skills in various FIS races last winter. But now her career has come to a tragic end.

Engelhardt suffered two cardiac arrests during summer training and narrowly escaped death. She shared her touching story on Instagram, deeply affecting the winter sports community. "My life changed overnight, and it shows you should be grateful for every day," the cross-country skier wrote.

"The doctors thought I wouldn't make it." Katharina Engelhardt

Then Engelhardt tells her story. "During a training session, I suffered two cardiac arrests!" The teenager had to be resuscitated on site, taken to the hospital, and placed in a medically induced coma. The situation was critical, the cross-country skier explains. "Even the excellent doctors in Linz thought I wouldn't make it. But they were wrong, because I did."

Myocarditis as a cause

The Austrian woman explained that she had been feeling unwell for several days before the accident. The cause was discovered shortly afterward: "The doctors diagnosed myocarditis." This is one of the reasons why Engelhardt makes an urgent appeal to her colleagues: "Please always take care of yourselves after an infection."

Engelhardt herself was able to leave the intensive care unit after just one week; a defibrillator was implanted. However, a return to competitive sports is out of the question for her – and her young career is thus over. "Nevertheless, I'm grateful that I can continue to do normal sports." And she's alive – that's the most important thing after this accident.