The next time someone tries to convince you that Olympians are regular people and not high-performing sports humanoids, yell at them loudly and point them to Philippe Marquis.
The 28-year-old Canadian moguls skier may have not scored gold at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang like his teammate Mikael Kingsbury, but the Quebec City athlete managed to compete and qualify for the event just a month after tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Coming off his first jump in the opening round of the finals on Monday, Marquis appeared to re-injure his right knee and wipe out.
Fans on Twitter quickly pointed out how much determination Marquis displayed by just being there with such an injury.
I'm thinking @MarquisPhil might be the toughest athlete at the Olympics. Total respect for what he did. #TeamCanada
β Jim Lang (@JimLangSports) February 12, 2018
CBC Reporter Jamie Strashin captured a nice moment with Marquis and his mother after his run:
Last week, Marquis spoke to The Canadian Press about his injury, which he sustained while training for the Deer Valley World Cup in Utah.
"Whatever the outcome here at the Olympics, just today to make it from top to bottom, that's basically a miracle," Marquis said.
To help get him in the right mindset β you know, the one that helps you furiously ski down a bumpy hill with a torn ACL β Marquis wrote motivational messages on his equipment.
"Keep fighting," was written on his left glove strap, "What ACL?" on the right. On the top of his gloves are the words "Engage" and "Fire."
"I needed the distraction and that was the best thing," Marquis said.
The skier told CP that he postponed getting surgery until after the Games wrapped up, and thanked his team doctors, friends and family for helping make it there.
"I couldn't miss the big show," he said. "It was clear in my head I was going to try and do whatever I could."
With files from The Canadian Press
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