To have a comeback, you have to have a setback.
A lot of stories are there in sports that tell us how the will of athletes take them to another level. We are here with some olympics comeback stories.
Enjoy this look back at some of the most nail-biting finishes to Olympic events, featuring the best comebacks in Olympic Hockey, some last ditch overtakes in cross-country skiing and MORE!
5. JESSIE DIGGINS & KIKKAN RANDALL (CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING)
2018 winter Olympics was the time when 2 women ended the 42-year US medal drought in cross-country skiing by winning a gold medal at the winter Olympics. diggings crossed the finish line just 0.19 seconds before the second place Sweden. They were also the first US women to win an Olympic gold medal in the cross-country skiing. US skiers Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall just made history two times over at the pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
They did it in thrilling fashion, too. In the last few seconds of the race, Diggins, who skied the final leg for the US, was neck and neck with Sweden's Stina Nilsson. But Diggins pulled ahead, pushing her left ski over the finish line just 0.19 seconds before Nilsson.
Diggins collapsed after crossing the finish line, and Randall rushed over to her teammate, embracing her as she lay exhausted on the snow.
The last time an American won a medal in cross-country skiing was at the 1976 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. skier bill Koch nabbed the silver medal in men's 30-kilometer event.
4. RED GERARD (SNOWBOARDING)
Red Gerard won gold in the snowboarding slopestyle event to give the Americans their first medal at the 2018 Winter Games. Gerard entered his third and final run in 11th place before pulling off the run of his young life, which included nailing a backside triple cork 1440. The run earned him a score of 86.17, and after his remaining competitors couldn't equal his effort on their final runs, Gerard had won the gold. With the win, Gerard becomes the youngest snowboarder to ever win a medal at the Olympics. It's the second straight Olympics that an American has won the slopestyle event—Sage Kostenberg won in 2014 in Sochi, when the event made its Olympic debut. Gerard was joined on the medal stand by two Canadians—Max Parrot took home the silver and Mark McMorris, who broke his femur after suffering a brutal fall under a year ago, took the bronze.Gerard is from Westlake, Ohio but lives in Silvererthorne, Co. He was born on June 26, 2000.
3. SIMEN HEGSTAD KRUEGER (SKIATHLON)
When Simen Hegstad Krueger slipped and fell on the first lap of the 30-kilometer cross-country skiathlon and found himself facedown in the snow with two rivals on top of him, he figured his hopes at an Olympic medal were over.
He couldn't have been more wrong."Here it is, my first ever Olympic race, and it starts in the worst possible way," said the Norwegian, who untangled his legs and skis from the two Russian competitors he wrecked, grabbed his broken ski pole and stormed up the hill to get back in contention.Starting from the rear, Krueger passed 63 skiers to take the lead and win the gold medal Sunday to cap an amazing comeback.
After Krueger crossed the line in 1 hour, 16 minutes, 20 seconds, he looked to the heavens and repeatedly pumped his fists in the air. Norway swept the medals, with Martin Johnsrud Sundby taking silver and Hans Christer Holund getting bronze. Sundby said Krueger's return to the front of the field after crashing is an incredible testament to his perseverance. "I think we have a deserving Olympic champion," Sundby said. Holund said he would expect nothing more from a Norwegian skier in a sport they have dominated for years. "When you are skiing for Norway, there are a lot of guys skiing for that right [to participate in the Olympics]. You should not give up, especially when you are in the Olympics," Holund said. "It shows that Simen is a real strong guy -- not just physical, but also mental." Just seconds after the mass start began and with skiers still bottled up in lines, Krueger appeared to slip midstride and his right ski came out from under him, causing him to fall to the ground. The two skiers directly behind him -- Andrey Larkov and Denis Spitsov, Russians competing under the Olympic flag -- couldn't stop quickly enough and toppled over him in a heap. Krueger told himself he needed to stay calm. He knew he couldn't get back the 15 seconds he lost all at once. It would take patience to get back in the lead pack and still have some energy left at the end of the race.
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2. CHARLOTTE KALLA (CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING)
Kalla took the first gold medal awarded at the 2018 winter Olympic at pyeongchang when she won the skiathlon, breaking away from the leading group on the last lap of the course to take victory with a lead of 7.8 seconds over second placed Marit Bjorgen. Her win made her the first Swedish woman to win three Olympic gold, and tied her with canoer Agneta Andersson as the female swede with most Olympic gold medal over all. It was also Kalla's six Olympic medal , equalling Anja parson's record for the most winter Olympic medals among Swedish woman. She then went on to win silver in the ten Km free style individual start, the 4*5 km relay (together with anna haag, Ebba Andersson and Stina Nilsson) and the team sprint (with Stina Nilsson).
1. ESTER LEDECKA (ALPINE SKIING)
Ledecká made her Olympic debut in alpine skiing at the 2018 winter olympics, while also being qualified for alpine snowboarding. She won the gold medal in super-G in alpine skiing at the 2018 Winter Olympics in a historic upset. She was visibly shocked after finishing 0.01 seconds ahead of the 2014 Olympics defending gold medallist anna vieth, who had already been proclaimed the winner by many media outlets. Ledecká was ranked 49th in the event prior to the Olympics and had never medalled in any World Cup level international skiing event.
To make the feat even more surprising to reporters, she was rumored to be allegedly racing on skis borrowed from Mikaela Shiffrin (both racers are sponsored by atomic). She refused to remove her goggles for the post-victory press conference, insisting that this is her trademark (which is true), and when pressed by reporters she cleverly stated that she had skipped wearing makeup as she had not expected to win the event. Her snowboard coach, American Justin Reiter, arrived at the start of the Ladies PGS event with his reversible Czech team jacket confidently already turned gold side out. After victory in the parallel giant salalom she became the first ever female athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in two different disciplines during the same Winter Olympics (ansifa reztsova had previously won gold in different disciplines but not at the same Olympics: cross country skiing in 1998 and biathlon in 1992 and 1994). Ledecká was chosen as the flag bearer for the czech republic at the closing ceremony.
Watch some more interesting comebacks here: Best Ever Winter Olympics Comebacks
