CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Super-G winner Federica Brignone would have still been in rehab had her willpower and competitive spirit not driven her to the Olympic start line in Cortina after a career threatening injury in April, the Italian team's medical chief said on Thursday.
Brignone suffered multiple leg fractures and ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in a crash during the giant slalom at the Italian Championships.
But the 35-year-old skier, nicknamed the Tiger and winner of two overall World Cups, produced one of her greatest runs on a foggy Olympia delle Tofane piste to take gold.
"She put her mind to it, showed real willpower and the desire to be here to be competitive, not just to take part," Andrea Panzeri, head of the Medical Commission of the Italian Winter Sports Federation, told journalists after the race.
"If she were a normal person, she would still be in rehab."
After the crash in April, Panzeri was part of the team that operated on Brignone twice and followed her step by step throughout her recovery.
Brignone returned to skiing in late November and to competition in January at Kronplatz, where she achieved an astonishing sixth place.
Panzeri said that although the rehabilitation phase was now over, Brignone still needed to regain full athletic condition and manage the pain she continues to feel.
"Don't think that skiing does not cause her pain," he said.
"Today's result is extraordinary, and a tremendous emotion," he added.
(Reporting by Sara Rossi; Editing by Alison Williams)
