At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Slovenian cross-country skier Petra Majdič was the favorite to win the 1.4-kilometer classic sprint. She was at the top of her form and was motivated to go for the gold. One of the top cross-country skiers in the word, Majdič had won a number of World Cup races, won the overall World Cup in sprint, and received several medals at World Championships - but an Olympic medal had eluded her.

During a warm-up lap in Whistler, however, Majdič slid from track and fell into a three-meter gully. Suffering from great pain, she was taken to a mobile X-ray machine. The results were inconclusive; they showed no fractures. Still, Majdič’s extreme pain would not go away. It seemed that the fall had ended Majdič’s Olympic dreams. But she decided to fight on.

Majdič appeared in the qualification rounds, and despite her injury, made it to the final. In the course of the day, her pain had gotten even worse, but she showed up at the start of the race and took off with the world’s best. Her immense discomfort was immediately evident, yet she continued to endure, moving up from fourth position to third as she approached the finish line. Against all odds, she managed to retain her third position all the way to the finish line. She collapsed almost immediately, barely managing to remain conscious, and was transported to the hospital. But she had won the bronze medal.

Only in the hospital did the scale of Majdič’s feat become apparent. Doctors discovered that when Majdič fell, she had broken five of her ribs. Then, during the semi-finals, one of the ribs had become dislodged and punctured her lung, creating a pneumothorax. Every time Majdič inhaled, she felt the pain of the rib stabbing her lung. (True to form, she refused morphine while hospitalized, preferring to endure the pain.)

Majdič’s success in spite of her serious injury was one of the most incredible accomplishments in the history of the Winter Olympics. Despite doctors’ orders, she appeared at the awards ceremony – in a wheelchair and with a tube in her lungs, but proud to receive the medal for which she had suffered so much. Majdič later said that her bronze medal was equivalent to “a gold medal studded with diamonds.”

Majdič’s feat captured the world’s attention, and she later received the Vancouver 2010 Terry Fox award for her determination and selflessness. The award is named after a Canadian amputee runner who embarked on a cost-to-coast run despite battling cancer, and died during the run.

Majdič fully recovered from her injury, was named Slovenia’s Woman of the Year, and went on to win four major races the following season. Now, four years later, Majdič is back at the Winter Olympics. Having retired in 2011, she is now serving as Slovenia’s “chef de mission” in Sochi.