Ellie Soutter, a talented British snowboarder and Olympic hopeful, died on her 18th birthday Wednesday.
No details have been released about her death, but her father Tony Soutter confirmed the loss on Facebook, The Telegraph reported, and British Ski & Snowboard urged struggling teenagers to contact the suicide charity Samaritans.
"So proud of the beautiful young woman she had turned into," Tony Soutter wrote on the social media site. "This cruel world took my soul mate and 'Bessie' from me yesterday on her 18th birthday. Ellie I will miss you more than you could have ever imagined. Rest in peace you little champion!"
Soutter won Team Great Britain's only medal at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in Turkey last year with a bronze in the snowboard cross.
"Ellie was an incredibly popular and well-liked member of the team," British Olympic Association chair Hugh Robertson and the association's athlete commission chair Ben Hawes said in a joint statement. "Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this sad time."
British Ski & Snowboard said in a statement Thursday that Soutter was "the country's best up-and-coming snowboarders, competing in both snowboard cross and freeride . . . The thoughts and condolences of the British Ski & Snowboard community are with Ellie's family, friends and teammates."
Soutter competed on the Freeride Junior Tour during the 2017-18 season and was due to return to snowboard cross competition next month after being selected in the British team for the Junior World Championships in New Zealand, according to British Ski & Snowboard.
The website stated that Soutter was an inaugural member of the British Europa Cup snowboard cross program that started this year.
Many fans shared their condolences on social media.
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