ZHANGJIAKOU, China — The night before competing in the women's freeski halfpipe at the Beijing Olympics, Cassie Sharpe wrote in her journal that regardless of the event's outcome she should be proud of herself.
Sharpe had won gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and was set to defend her Olympic crown when she broke her femur and tore the ligaments in her left knee in a crash at the Winter X-Games in January 2021. Reconstructive surgery followed by nine months of physical rehabilitation and only four months of skiing paid off for Sharpe on Friday when she won silver at the Beijing Olympics with friend and teammate Rachael Karker earning bronze.