Sofia Goggia: I overcame the biggest challenge in my life and I am proud

Sofia Goggia says she's "really proud" of winning silver in the Olympic downhill at Beijing 2022 on Tuesday (15 February).

Just 23 days after suffering a partial damage of the cruciate ligament and a small fracture in her left leg following a crash in the Cortina super G, the Italian alpine star managed to claim a medal in the event where she was the defending champion.

"If someone told me: 'You're going to achieve silver at this Olympics, I would have signed for it," the 29-year-old told Eurosport-Discovery at the finish line.

"It was the biggest challenge that life gave me, but I didn't give up one centimetre with my head. And so I'm proud of this," she added.

Wearing the bib No. 13, Goggia clocked the fastest time on the 'Rock' course at the Yanqing National Ski Centre before eventual winner Corinne Suter of Switzerland overtook her by just 0.16 seconds.

"I'm sorry for the last part, I felt like maybe there'd been some parts of the slope I had some wind against me, but it's something you cannot control," said the Bergamo-born skier who initially didn't hide some disappointment for missing out on the gold medal.

But she later admitted: "It's still a medal. It's still a great medal. It's an unbelievable medal because of the condition of the last 20 days."

The now two-time Olympic medallist reflected on her remarkable recovery from injury: "I always told myself that if I could overcome this big challenge, maybe the downhill would have been the easiest part for me," she said.

"I came here with no days of skiing, I also crashed in Super G training and I said to my coach: 'I cannot do this, I cannot do this. How can I make it to the downhill if I cannot put my leg down...' And he said: 'You will do it because you know how