Runner who saw Norwegian athlete moments before she fell to her death aged 30 pays tribute and admits ‘I would give anything for this to have happened to me rather than you’

A runner who saw Norwegian athlete Ida Amelie Robsahm moments before she fell to her death at the age of 30 has paid tribute to her friend.

Robsahm was training in Romsdalseggen, Norway, on Saturday when she fell, with the altitude 1,329m. The ridge is located 10km away from Andalsnes.

According to Norwegian magazine Kondis, there was a lot of fog and rain with slippery rocks on show in a photo shared by runner Miguel Benitez.

Robsahm is understood to have fallen several dozen metres, and didn’t survive her injuries, despite an air ambulance taking her to the hospital.

Benitez was out running with Robsahm, taking a photo of the runner moments before her death, and shared the snap to social media with a heartwarming tribute.

‘Hey Ida, after I took that photo of you, we never spoke again,’ he wrote on social media. 

Fellow runner and friend Miguel Benitez shared a snap of the 30-year-old before she died

‘Everything changed in less than a second. The mountain took your life, and with it all your/our dreams. Yet all will somehow remain.

‘You were the most wonderful person I have ever met. Thank you for letting me spend together your final moments on this planet.

‘I would give anything for this to have happened to me rather than you. Lykke til up there.’

Robsahm was a semi-professional runner, also working as a chemistry teacher in Oslo.

She finished fourth in the Short Trail World Championships in 2025, and was regarded as a hot prospect in the sport.

Her family told local media: ‘In the midst of the deep sorrow over the loss of Ida, we would like to extend a warm thank you to the running community.

‘Ida was a big part of the community, and all the care and consideration in this cruel situation means a lot.’

Her coach, Sindre Buraas, added: ‘It came as a shock. You can’t deal with it right away. ‘She was in a place in a terrain and an environment where she had been so much, so comfortable.

Benitez said: ‘I would give anything for this to have happened to me rather than you’

‘She was torn away from us and from her life. It leaves deep traces. It is bottomlessly sad in every way.

‘I would like to highlight Ida as a fantastic athlete. A person with a big heart for the people around her and for the sport, and the project we had together, which was to run as fast as possible.

‘A very good athlete and a very nice person to work with, who I have bonded very closely with and had daily conversations with.’