An Italian orienteering competitor died Aug. 12 at the World Games in Chengdu, China, four days after collapsing during a race.
Mattia Debertolis, 29, was midway through the men’s middle-distance final on Aug. 8 when he was found unconscious along the course by event personnel. The race was held about 30 miles from central Chengdu in heat exceeding 86 degrees Fahrenheit and high humidity.
Medical teams provided emergency care before transferring him to one of the country’s top hospitals. Despite the intervention, Debertolis died, according to a joint announcement from the International Orienteering Federation (IOF), the International World Games Association (IWGA), and the event’s local organizing committee (LOC).
The statement did not give a cause of death. IOF President Tom Hollowell said the loss had deeply affected the sport. “I am not able to adequately describe in words the unfathomable depth of sadness in this tragic loss of life,” he said, urging the international orienteering community to remember Debertolis’s legacy.
Debertolis had been a fixture on Italy’s national team since 2014, competing in numerous World Championships and World Cups. One of his standout achievements came in 2022, when he contributed to Italy’s fifth-place finish in the relay at the World Cup Final. He was ranked 137th in the men’s Orienteering World Rankings at the time of his death.
In orienteering, athletes navigate unfamiliar terrain using a map and compass, locating checkpoints in sequence and racing to finish in the shortest possible time.
Twelve competitors, including Debertolis, were recorded as “Did Not Finish” in the official results for the men’s 2025 final. The winning time, set by Switzerland’s Riccardo Rancan, was 45 minutes and 22 seconds.
Born in Italy’s Primiero Valley, Debertolis participated in cross-country skiing and football before dedicating himself to orienteering. Outside athletics, he was a civil engineer and a doctoral candidate at Stockholm University in Sweden, where he also represented the orienteering club IFK Lidingö. He also helped with his family’s hotel business.
The World Games is a quadrennial multi-sport event featuring disciplines not contested at the Olympics. The 12th edition, running Aug. 7–17 in Chengdu, includes sports such as squash, tug of war, and korfball alongside orienteering.
Organizers said memorial tributes are planned at future IOF competitions, and that they will continue to provide support to Debertolis’s family and teammates in the wake of his passing.
“The IWGA, LOC, and IOF will continue to support the family of Mattia Debertolis and the Orienteering Community in every possible way,” a statement published on The World Games website read.
