- Italian Alpine skier Sofia Goggia won a silver medal in the downhill event.
- Goggia suffered an ugly crash on January 23 and tore her ACL and fractured her fibula.
Perhaps no medal at the Beijing Olympics is as impressive as Italy's Sofia Goggia's silver medal in the downhill as she only recently was back to walking without limitations.
On January 23, Goggia crashed during the super G at a World Cup event in Italy, partially tearing her ACL and fracturing her fibula. Despite the violent crash, she was able to get up and ski down on her own.
Goggia had not competed since that crash but attacked her rehab — earlier than doctors would have recommended, according to Yahoo's Henry Bushnell — and showed up to Beijing hoping she would be able to compete.
On Monday, Goggia completed a training session and said she felt like a 5.5 out of 10, according to Bushnell.
Goggia later told reporters she was starting to walk like a "normal person" again.
Still, Goggia was able to make it through the downhill on Tuesday in Beijing, not only completing the race but taking the lead.
She let out a scream as she crossed through the finish.
—Andrew Dampf (AP) (@AndrewDampf) February 15, 2022
Goggia was eventually passed by Switzerland's Corinne Suter and took home silver.
She explained afterward that she knew if she could make it to Beijing, she would be stronger for the experience.
"I always said to myself that if I could endure and overcome the period that separates me from Cortina [Italy] to China, then the downhill itself would have been the easiest part," Goggia said, via The Washington Post's Barry Svrluga.
After saying she was not afraid of returning to the slopes, she added: "I worked on my fear, and I just wanted to be here. I just wanted to be here at the Olympic Games. I just wanted to play here. I had to pick myself back up in a way or another."
Other Olympians were impressed with the feat.
"It feels a little bit impossible that she got here," Mikaela Shiffrin, who finished 18h in the event, said.
Goggia is only starting to heal, but she said the tough part is over.
"When you get up from bed, that's the most difficult part of the day," Goggia said.