The former German track cyclist was left paraplegic after colliding with a partner in a training. Today, she takes the event with courage

Kristina Vogel, the 27-year-old former German rider and one of the biggest names in the oval sport, recently confirmed that she will not walk again. All this due to a painful accident suffered last June while training, in which she crashed at full speed with another rider in the middle of a workout. From LatinAmerican Post, we tell you what happened.

Leer en español: Kristina Vogel: la bicampeona olímpica que no se rinde

Her birth as a star

According to Semana Magazine, the German woman fell in love with cycling at a very young age, conquering all her achievements, "Kristina was born in Leninskoye and with only 10 years old she knew cycling, which made her fall in love very quickly because of the excitement she generated. From that young age she excelled with his power, which allowed her to exceed 60 kilometers per hour, so she went from the route to the track. "

However, when she was 20 years old, the German suffered the first major setback of her career. She collided with a minibus when training near her home in Enfrunt. The incident left her in a coma for two days and many broken bones,. Fortunately, she recovered thanks to her desire to return to her beloved sport, as indicated by the same magazine.

Moments of glory

Just three years after the transit incident, the queen of the tracks was back to the discipline, participating in the 2012 London Olympics. Where she got her first gold medal on the track and dazzled by her quick return.

As of that year, Kristina's quality jump was at the top. She was 11 times world champion, achieved many world records (200 and 500 meters against the clock, that are still valid today) and catapulted as a true reference pedal sports.

Her greatest achievement, as referred by Semana, was winning two times in the Olympics held in Rio 2016, beating the British favorite Becky James, whom she defeated even with a mechanical failure presented by her bike.

Maybe you're interested in reading: Exclusive interview with Eligio Vento: A look at the life of a Paralympic athlete

Seconds of misfortune

Explains the portal of Elperiodico.com, that everything happened "during a practice session on an old concrete track of Cottbus. An oversight of Vogel led her to impact at high speed with another cyclist who was training, and the serious collision caused a severe spinal injury, which led her being transferred urgently to the Traumatology Hospital of Berlin ", where she was for more than three months.

Finally a few days ago, the athlete assumed her state of paraplegia and the continuity of her life in that condition. "It's bullshit, whatever I do, I know I will not walk again," Kristina confessed, who said that unfortunately, the accident broke her spinal cord at the height of the seventh vertebra, which evidently leads her to lose all sensibility. trunk down.

A new life

In some of her words to the media, summarized by the newspaper Marca de España, Kristina said, "I've always believed that the faster a situation is assumed, the quicker you learn to live with it. Today I am in a wheelchair and I must learn to live with it daily. I understand I must start over from scratch as a baby and grow. I believe that my 12th world medal should be won with the fact of learning to live without being able to walk ".

Finally, the former rider took advantage of her opportunity to make a call to the world in general, in which life goes on, " no matter what fate may have you, life goes on, in my case on four wheels instead of two "

LatinAmerican Post | Freddy González

Translated from: 'Kristina Vogel: la bicampeona olímpica que no se rinde'