Why? Why do Olympic athletes train and even compete through devastating injuries? What drives people at the elite level to suffer to the point of self-harm, permanent impairment or worse? The short answer: There are many reasons, and they vary from athlete to athlete. The focus of this article is the story of Petra Majdic, a cross-country sprinter from Slovenia and her epic suffering at the 2010 Vancouver Canada winter games. WHISTLER, BC - FEBRUARY 17: Petra Majdic of Slovenia celebrates with her bronze medal during the ... [+] medal ceremony for the Ladies' Individual Sprint Cross-Country on day 6 of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at Whistler Medals Plaza on February 17, 2010 in Whistler, Canada. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) Getty Images The Journey of Petra Majdic Petra Majdic was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 1979. This region was a part of Austro Hungarian empire until 1918, then Yugoslavia until 1991 when Slovenia achieved independence. Petra’s Slovenia then, was a young, small country where skiing was not very popular. In spite of this Petra was drawn to cross country skiing as a young girl. In 1999, and barely 20 years old, she snuck onto the international skiing stage finishing 69th in a 10k race. Her progress from there was slow but steady. In 2001 She finally made the podium finishing third in the 1500m sprint in Asiago, Italy. WHISTLER, BC - FEBRUARY 17: Petra Majdic of Slovenia celebrates with her bronze medal during the ... [+] medal ceremony for the Ladies' Individual Sprint Cross-Country on day 6 of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at Whistler Medals Plaza on February 17, 2010 in Whistler, Canada. Majdic was injured during warm-ups before her medal-winning event. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images) Bongarts/Getty Images MORE FOR YOU ‘The Floodgates Open’—Bitcoin And Crypto Brace For A $9 Trillion Fed Price Flip Google Chrome Attack Warning—Stop Using Your Passwords ‘NYT Mini’ Clues And Answers For Wednesday, March 19 In spite of poor equipment and second-rate coaching she would move up in world rankings year after year by outworking her competition. But her progress was slow. She would make the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002 in three events finishing 6th, 7th and 12th. Again in 2006 she would make the Torino, Italy Olympics finishing 6th, 11th and 14th in the same events respectively. Breakthrough Her first win internationally would finally come in 2006 in the 1km sprint in Drammen, Norway. The significance of this win which elevated her celebrity was manifested by new sponsors with more money in 2007. As a result she would finally be provided with elite skis and coaching. Thereafter, She would win three races and grab three more podium finishes to end the season as 4th overall, 2nd in sprint and 8th in distance. Additionally, she earned a silver in the individual sprint at the 2007 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. In the 2008 season, Majdič would win her first World Cup title for sprints. In the 2009 season, she elevated her game again, winning the first four sprints of the season and eight sprints all together, but modified World Cup Finale rules prevented her from winning the World Cup overall. She won her second World Cup title for sprints, however, with a record 879 points and a record 409 points margin ahead of second-placed Arianna Follis. At last she was considered the best in the world in sprints. She became a favorite to win two gold medals in the 2010 games. 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games: Agony During the warm-up for the 1.5 km sprint in the 2010 Olympics she would ski off-course, down a bank, into a 10-ft deep gully where she would crash on rocks breaking both ski poles and a ski tip, and sustaining five broken ribs in the process along-with a pneumothorax. The start time for her qualifying round was pushed back, but she collapsed in pain after qualifying and was taken to a hospital to be x-rayed. An ultrasound failed to show the rib fractures. Thus, she returned to the course. Despite the agonizing pain, she would win her quarterfinal and just get through to the semifinal. During the semifinal, one of the broken ribs pierced her lung, collapsing it. She still qualified for the final and then willed herself to this last race. WHISTLER, BC - FEBRUARY 17: Petra Majdic of Slovenia competes during the Women's Individual Sprint ... [+] C Qualification on day 6 of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics at Whistler Olympic Park Biathlon Stadium on February 17, 2010 in Whistler, Canada. (Photo by Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images) Bongarts/Getty Images How Did She Do It? How did she do it? How could she ignore excruciating pain and all the other psychological and physiological signals that were flashing “STOP!” in her brain. What could possibly motivate anyone to choose again and again to endure such excruciating pain? In Petra’s case: She thought of the 22 years she fought to become the best in the world. She thought of the years when her parents wanted her to give up skiing and go to school and start a family. She thought of her disappointments at the previous two Olympics, where equipment mishaps doomed her medal chances. She thought of her tiny country that had not won an individual medal at the Winter Olympics in 16 years and which was always out-funded by its bigger neighbors. She thought of the sacrifices: the six-year relationship that ended because "he just couldn't understand anymore that I'm skiing," she said. She thought of the award ceremony for the most popular Slovenian (the president won it the year before) just before the Games that she skipped because she did not want to stay out late or risk getting sick and compromise her training. And so she continued into the final round, furiously double-poling down the last straight to take the bronze medal before collapsing in the snow and screaming in agony as medics carried her limp body away from Whistler Olympic Park. The answer to Majdic’s improbable feat is simple: it’s endurance — The struggle to continue against a mounting desire to give up. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen of Finland falls next to Slovenia's Petra Majdic (R) as they cross the finish ... [+] line in the women's Cross-Country Individual Sprint quater finals on February 17, 2010 at the Whistler Olympic Park during the Vancouver Winter Olympics. AFP PHOTO / DON EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images For most every Olympic athlete (whether they medal or not) there are injuries and sacrifices for years, if not decades in their journey. All athletes experience these obstacles For many they can spell the end of the journey. No Olympic medalist ever gets to the podium without having overcome many such obstacles. Show me an Olympic medalist and I will show you a person who has gotten comfortable with suffering. This is Petra Majdic’s story. WHISTLER, BC - FEBRUARY 17: Petra Majdic of Slovenia is assisted is assisted off the course after ... [+] she was injured while winning the bronze medal in the Women's Individual Sprint C Final on day 6 of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics at Whistler Olympic Park Biathlon Stadium on February 17, 2010 in Whistler, Canada. Despite the injury Majdic won the bronze medal. 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