Just ten weeks before the Barcelona Olympics Silken Laumann, a Canadian rower, suffered a horrific leg injury.

After six weeks she got back on the water. "Here I was still using a wheelchair, a massive skin graft on my leg. I could not walk without pain. I got into that boat with some help, there were a few adjustments to take some of the strain off my broken ankle."

After four operations, she managed to make it to the final and win a bronze medal, becoming a national hero in Canada.

This programme was first broadcast in March 2014.

Picture: Silken Laumann, Credit: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images Sport.