A winter Olympian won bronze and broke down in tears 3 months after leaving an event in a wheelchair

• Tatiana Ivanova, a 30-year-old luger, won a bronze medal Tuesday.
• She burst into tears at the end of the race as the result came three months after a nasty accident.

Tatiana Ivanova won a bronze medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics and broke down in tears three months after leaving another event in a wheelchair.

In November 2021, 30-year-old Ivanova competed at the Luge World Cup in Sochi but suffered a nasty injury in which she left the Yanqing track, having fractured a bone and damaged ligaments in her leg.

She could not walk and had to be taken to the airport in a wheelchair at the time.

But at the ongoing Beijing Games, Ivanova showed she had not only recovered from the accident but had flourished, as she finished third with an aggregate final time of 3 minutes 54.507 seconds Tuesday.

Ivanova, who represents the Russian Olympic Committee, cried as she celebrated with her teammates at the end of the race.

"It was very hard to get back," Ivanova said, according to Reuters.

"I'm happy our entire team has made it, and we have won the bronze medal, which smells of gold to me."

German luger Natalie Geisenberger won the gold medal.

Germany currently leads the Winter Olympics medal table with five gold medals and three silvers.

The Russian Olympic Committee is eighth, with two golds, three silvers, and six bronze.

The United States is 10th with one gold, five silvers, and one bronze.

The Beijing Games continue until February 20.