The Most Incredible Determination in the Olympics | Against All Odds

I was in the best shape ever. That is the only chance which I have. But no-one could have thought that the fall was so deep. Never before happened something like that. We didn't predict this. How could she overcome this extensive injury and do this? And I can just say I don't know. It was just about not to give up. It was just about trying. Crash was so strong and injurious that we tried to stop her. I said, nah, the story is not finished yet. (AGAINST ALL ODDS - PETRA HURTOVÁ)

(OLYMPIC GAMES VANCOUVER, CANADA, 2010) (17TH FEBRUARY - WHISTLER OLYMPIC PARK) (CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING) When I arrived to Vancouver, I was probably in my lifetime shape. How many medals are you going to win at the Olympics? - I hope minimum three. - Many. Of course. One day before the race, as a usual programme it's like easy skiing and then make some technical parts around and then make some maybe sprints for activation and warm up. Petra had been doing, like, starts with so

me athletes from other nations and these athletes have been men and she had been able to beat the men in the sprints in the stadium, which for us was something like...shocked. I said to myself and also to other, "Pay attention, make a note of this. "Petra will get the gold medal." Well, how the story developed is, of course, another story. (00:30AM WARM-UP) I remember that early in the morning I did the course inspection. I thought I did it well, but obviously I didn't. The s

kis were just gliding and they didn't brake. They lost the contact with snow and generally if there would be a wider track or a wider curve or it would be a bend, you could go close to bend and the bend would be your brake, it wouldn't be a problem, but unluckily there was no bend. I would not expect somebody would ski so far from the line, but it happened, so she crashed in that awful...ditch. When I was flying I realised it was four and a half metre deep hole. You always turn to

see how, or where are you falling, and suddenly I realise there is dark. I was starting to scream badly and with that scream I started to feel really bad pain in my back. Somehow I climbed out of that hole and I tried to run by my foot to stadium without skis, because they were broken. I reach Ivan and John Luca and Milos, because they were running in opposite side - to try to reach me. - We tried to stop her because doctors know what can be when she says, "I have pain here." D

octor can imagine that some ribs can be broken, and doctor immediately react, we have here some dangerous situation and it is better to not start. I have to go and start. It was too much involved in that moment, in that competition, in that medal. You know, 20 years of work. It was a great team behind, who gave more than four years of their lives. Petra comes from a small town. Though her hometown is not far from the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, she was brought up in a family,

along with her brother, where they had to work a lot and listen to their father and mother. We had made the children accustomed to working since they were little. The only dowry you can give a child is to teach them to work. They can always quit later. She was actually very lucky when she crossed paths with her coach Robert Slabanja. Petra also worked at home in addition to her training, and this undoubtedly helped her at first as she also acquired working habits along the way, a

nd in addition with the chores at home, physical labour made her stronger and in this way she also acquired some physical strength. Later on, when the training became more demanding, more serious, work at home became disruptive. Roberto was very demanding, he was very professional, I would say. He demanded that whatever you do, you do 100%. I went to her house once to visit her father and we came to an agreement that she wouldn't have to do the work at the farm any more, and

her father accepted. First we start the training, we were all about fun, and then when we were about ten or something we started to go to these races and everything. She was all the time very determined that she wants to be the best, that she really wants to do something. (10:35AM QUALIFYING HEAT) When I came to the stadium, everybody was in shock, because the news just spread between the teams really rapidly - everybody knew it. "Petra fell extremely badly, "maybe perhaps for

her "it is not possible to go and start." We really see that we have no chance to change her mind, then we can no fight against, we have to do something, how to support her in this situation. I didn't want to sit, because I realise if I sit the pain will be even worse. I had to move to keep my body warmed up. Then we say OK, you are not sprinting, you'll just make your race as you want to make race in the Olympics and you just go... ..slowly around, you make your loop and we

go to hospital. The qualification run, it was every two seconds scream because with my... I breathed, you know, I take a breath in but when I put the breath out I was just like from a scream, I put it out, the pain in breath. I still have very close to my eyes that scene that there was first uphill and the coaches from all countries were standing on the same side just watching the competition. In that moment everybody was totally silent, totally silent just listening that scream.

And I still fight till the end hoping to reach top 30, and I did, I was 19th after qualifications. And I was lying on the floor and I said "OK, I did it, "first step is done." I didn't think any more about the medal, it was just about... not to give up. It was just about trying. In that moment I realise, OK, you just try. It was just, don't give up, it's not end yet, the story didn't end yet. Cross-country skiing is a sport which takes a lot of effort to achieve good results. Co

ming from farm family, coming from state like Slovenia, that helped me to develop myself. The path was not easy one, and that motivated me every day, every morning, that I'm coming from origin where is the best environment to become a cross-country skier. Sometimes, I also compared Petra to Don Quixote, fighting with the windmills, and thought her efforts will bear no fruit and she should do something else instead. But it was all in vain - she went on her own path. No-one under

stood why cross-country skiing is so important to you that you are going first session of training, rest in car, second session of training, and driving home, and putting all your savings in that. And that was really hard period, I had a feeling that I am fighting against all. But at age 21, in Asiago and I was for the first time on podium, suddenly I got much better conditions. I got employment in army forces and that was a big breakthrough. Armed forces help especially yo

ung athletes to... in the kind that they gave them social safety - they have their job, they have health insurance, social insurance. It was something like "wow" for me. I could live from it, I could buy additional material. I could...I could really be independent. (10:45AM WHISTLER OLYMPIC PARK) The most important time was after the qualification round because then we had a break, I don't know, for an hour, more than an hour, and she went to the doctor. We went to this ambulance

because we knew that there we could do some medical examinations. We thought we could do an X-ray whether something was broken or worse. We were surprised when we learned that they only had ultrasonography, but that was still better than nothing. If something is really broken we shouldn't allow her to continue, but if it is not broken, so it's just the hit and the pain because of the hit, we shouldn't allow her to quit, because she will not be ready to leave without getting

medal. This is her last chance. And he was researching, researching, examining me and everything, but he was saying, "It's nothing, it's nothing." But when you saw her, she needed ten minutes to just turn around. It was awful, you know. So I can go, and he was still trying to research me, to know what's wrong. He said, "I don't know but it looks like everything is OK." So I said, "Can I go?" And he actually allowed me. I was sure I wasn't risking anything and that I wasn't jeopardi

sing her health. Her health was more important to than the medal. When we finished the examination at the doctor, she was really unable to walk. I remember I couldn't ski, I couldn't run. I was just trying to walk and keep my body warm. I said, "Do you have pain in your arms?" She said no. I said, "Do you have pain in your legs?" She said no. I said, "Then concentrate only on your arms and legs." (01:25PM SEMIFINALS) I became more and more exhausted - you have to understand t

hat this competition in total lasts for five, six hours... and this pain was killing me, and the agony of repeating all these competitions and getting more and more tired. And before semifinal I said, "I cannot any more, I cannot," "I really cannot, it's over." And he started to scream at me. The coach come to me and asked Matej, what can we do? And I said, "Let me think." You have to shout at her. If you shout, she's not used to do it that you shout at her. She will ask, "The coach is

shouting at me. What's wrong?" This is not normal, so it will make adrenaline and this adrenaline will help her to reduce pain. It was so clear that I'm in horrible pain and I was just trying to continue with my "never give up" story. It was clear after situation in Salt Lake City, it was clear after situation in Turin that I will not get the fourth Olympics. That's the only chance which I have. (OLYMPIC GAMES SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, 2002) In America, she was still too young

and immature, although, back then, she was already in great condition. I was just a little girl, you know, unsure about her abilities, unsure especially in big competitions. (OLYMPIC GAMES TORINO, ITALY, 2006) And then to Torino, where she was real. At that time Petra was, according to the opinion of many, including my own, capable of winning at least one medal. I lost a medal. A service guy from Germany, he fall, and I was in leading group of 11 athletes and he fell on me, he c

rashed me during Olympic competition. When I was trying to compete again, you know, the leading group went away and I was in such a huge shock, I didn't know it in which direction I have to run. You don't expect that will happen to you in Olympic Games. In Olympics and in Slovenian sport it's so that only medals count. Sometimes people don't even remember who was the second. But, OK, medals are recognised - you don't even know who was the fourth. (01:45PM FINAL) "Do not com

e back to Slovenia without the medal, "because everybody will think "that you are just a coward "or that you are physically not able to handle "the pressure of big competitions." Because this was third Olympics and coming back without the medal again was a big, big, big failure. I really knew it that it's impossible to beat Marit Bjrgen and Justyna Kowalczyk in my condition. So I realised that, OK, the third position, the bronze medal is still capable to get. Then the final fig

ht began. From position four I still have a chance to fight for a medal. If you are in position five or six secretly you just think it's too far, it's too far, and you just stop fighting. And then came this downhill with the curve. I lost the balance there, but my body was, like, dizzy. I was just not capable to control it any more. I was tired I start to lose balance... ..and the track, I just remember how loudly all the team members were screaming. It was something... you kno

w, from one point I heard Ivan. When voice of Ivan I was losing there was Milos and Matej, and everybody were there on the track and that was crucial moment probably, because I never on that track totally give up. And suddenly it was that I was with Anna Olsson. I'm sure that Petra, when she came to the finish area, she knew if someone deserves this medal today, this is me. I was gliding very long. Everybody else start to push with arms earlier, but I was just gliding, you kn

ow, trying to get some more...moments, not seconds, moments of rest to prepare myself for this finish. And I start to feel that you can get it, you can get it, you really can get it. It was just 250, it was just 200. I saw the finish line and it was like, you can get it, you can really get it, and start to feel that Anna is giving up. That she's losing it and I realise, you get it. And I just... There's the finish line. In the short moments until finish we have been already h

appy, but then came the situation when we have to forget to be happy and just try to solve situation. As this was such a severe injury we decided along with the doctor at the Polyclinic to do a chest CT, which actually showed five broken ribs and a pneumothorax. The pneumothorax was so extensive, a chest drainage unit had to be inserted. I was still in thought, "I want to get the medal." And he said "No, it's impossible." I said, "How long does it take to make this operatio

n?" He said 15 minutes and I said, "OK, I give you ten." Ladies and gentlemen, the bronze medallist, representing Slovenia, Petra Majdic. In that moment I felt that the Slovenians need some message to be told. That it's possible. You just have to fight. It will not be easy. It will not be easy at all, but you can manage, because life is giving you as much pain as you are capable to live with. And on the end of that path the goal will be reachable. You will have to suffer to do

it, but it doesn't matter. You can do it. (AGAINST ALL ODDS PRESENTED BY BRIDGESTONE)