Missing two full seasons of racing through injury wasn’t enough to deny skier Greta Small another shot at the Winter Olympics.
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The Porepunkah export made her Olympic debut at Sochi in 2014, contesting all five individual alpine skiing events, but has had a setback after setback on her journey to PyeongChang.
Small suffered a knee injury that required surgery at the end of the 2015 season, before an ACL tear late in 2016 kept her off the snow for another 12 months.
Incredibly, she clawed her way back and secured a place on the Australian team for a second Olympic campaign.
Small has entered in the slalom, while her main focus is on the speed events, including the super G, downhill and the super combined which all run next week.
“I always believed in myself that I would be back here, but the hardest part was doing my knee the second time,” Small said.
Small, 22, had only been to one World Championships going into Sochi, but believes she’s a very a different skier now.
“Despite the injuries, I’m a much more tougher and stronger athlete, physically and mentally, than I was then, so I definitely know it’s possible to do well here,” Small said.
Small will race the slalom on Friday, before the Super-G on Saturday, the downhill on February 21 and the combined on February 23.