Norwegian trail runner Ida Amelie Robsahm dies in mountain accident

The news was made public by Norwegian media on Monday, with the family’s agreement. Ida Amelie Robsahm, 30, died after falling on Saturday morning near the summit of Romsdalseggen, a famous mountain ridge in western Norway that rises to 1,329 metres.

According to information released by Norwegian police, the runner fell several dozen metres. She suffered serious injuries and was treated by emergency responders before being airlifted, but did not survive.

The accident happened at around 10:35 a.m. while Ida Amelie Robsahm was out in the mountains with Spanish trail runner Miguel Benítez, her training partner and teammate on the ASICS Trail Team. He was the one who raised the alarm. Conditions on Romsdalseggen were difficult that Saturday, with rain and fog reported along the route.

A meteoric rise to the highest level

Ida Amelie Robsahm’s death comes as the Norwegian was enjoying a spectacular rise. She had only started running regularly four years earlier. In just a few seasons, she had established herself as one of the rising stars of global trail running.

Her 2026 season will be remembered as the one in which she broke through at the highest level. In March, she won the Chianti Marathon Trail, a 46 km race with 2,000 m of elevation gain, in 3:39:10. Two months later, she confirmed her level at Zegama-Aizkorri, one of the toughest events on the international calendar. She finished fourth in 4:28:19, behind Tove Alexandersson, Malen Osa and Sara Alonso.

At the end of June, she finished runner-up at the Marathon du Mont-Blanc, over 42 kilometres, behind Sweden’s Tove Alexandersson. A few weeks later, she finished fifth at the OCC in Chamonix, over 60 km with 3,500 m of elevation gain. She completed the race in 6:27:34. That fifth-place finish at the OCC was her last major competitive result. She had only turned 30 a few days earlier, celebrating her birthday on September 15, four days before the accident.

An athlete, but also a teacher

Away from elite competition, Ida Amelie Robsahm also had a professional life well outside the trail-running world. A semi-professional athlete, she was a teacher in Oslo, specialising in subjects including mathematics and chemistry. Despite a progression that quickly took her to the highest international level, she had continued working alongside her sporting career.

Her story also reflected the range of backgrounds found in today’s trail-running elite: an athlete who came to running relatively late, yet was able to compete with the world’s best within just a few years. Her potential on the road was clear too. In December 2025, she completed her first marathon in Valencia in 2:29:57, a time that remains among her standout road performances.

“A wonderful person and a talented athlete”

Tributes quickly poured in from across the trail-running community. Her sponsor ASICS paid tribute to an “outstanding athlete and teammate”, also highlighting her warmth and kindness.

Ben Dhiman, winner of the 2026 UTMB and also a member of the ASICS Trail Team, paid tribute to her after news of her death broke: “Ida was a wonderful person and a talented athlete, always so kind and positive. I’m going to miss her so much.”

Her coach Sindre Buraas, a former Norwegian elite athlete, also spoke of his immense grief to Norwegian media, describing Robsahm as a top-level athlete but, above all, a big-hearted person. In a statement reported by NRK, Robsahm’s family thanked the running community for the many messages of support they had received since the accident.

For Ida Amelie Robsahm, the mountain she explored and loved ultimately became the setting for her final training run. She leaves behind a career that was still in its early stages, but whose trajectory pointed towards a future at the very top. At just 30, the Norwegian had cleared one milestone after another on her way to the global elite. Trail running has lost one of its brightest rising stars.