On the morning of Tuesday, August 19, over a thousand people gathered to honor the memory of our athlete, Mattia Debertolis, who passed away the previous Monday during an orienteering competition at the World Games in Chengdu, China. The mass was celebrated outdoors, in a meadow of Val Canali against the backdrop of the Pale di San Martino – the home of Mattia, where he took his first steps and ran his first orienteering trainings. There could not have been a more symbolic and meaningful place to remember him.
At the funeral, more than a thousand people were present, including the local community and the extended orienteering family. Alongside them were many friends and acquaintances from different European countries, including four teammates from his Swedish club, Lidingö, with whom he trained during his time in Sweden.
We, the athletes of PWT, had the honor and pride of having Mattia with us for the past three years. We witnessed his dedication, perseverance, calm spirit, and passion, as well as many remarkable achievements, all the fruit of his commendable commitment.
Today, Mattia is no longer physically by our side. But we are convinced that he has never truly left us: we feel him with us in every training, in every race, running point by point together with him. That is why we have promised not to give up – to turn pain into strength, to move forward with even greater determination, carrying with us the example he left.
Mattia was born for orienteering. A natural talent, able to run at incredible speed through the forest and interpret the map with clarity. An international-level athlete, he had become a pillar of both PWT Italy and the national team, always humble, never a word out of place. Happy to compete, he did not see effort as a limitation, but as a companion on the journey.
Always helpful, he did not hesitate to give advice to younger teammates or to take care of small everyday tasks, like clearing the table during training camps. But once in competition, he became a lion: determined, focused, capable of maintaining an extraordinary level of concentration and time management. Alongside his sporting career, he also pursued research at the University of Stockholm, with the same rigor and passion.
He wanted to grow, to consistently reach the world’s top 10. For this, a team had been built around him: athletic trainer and great friend Samuele Tait, and Svetlana Mironova for technical preparation. Together, they had drawn a clear path: to win a world medal within two years. A life planned with determination, without shortcuts.
His tenacity was exemplary: last winter, forced to run with limitations due to an injury, he never gave up, training on the bike and braving the Swedish cold just to keep going.
Since 2023, he had officially joined PWT, but his bond with the team was already strong. “He was very proud of the new jersey,” his mother confided to us. In 2024, he achieved the best results of his Elite career: 10th place in the World Cup in Genoa, twice reaching the quarterfinals in international Sprint races, and winning the Italian Middle and Long Distance titles.
This year had been carefully planned so that he would peak in form for the World Cup finals in Switzerland at the end of September, after a delayed start to his preparation due to a foot injury. No one could have ever imagined that, instead, we would have to prepare for this final journey of his.
Now he will guide us from above, with the same smile and strength that he always gave us.
PWT Park World Tour Italy
In memory of Mattia Debertolis: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1293936332079547/
