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Sporting Witness: Silken Laumann - Unsinkable!

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Silken Laumann - Unsinkable!

08/03/2014 GMT

BBC World Service - Sporting Witness, Silken Laumann - Unsinkable!

The Canadian rower who defied a horrific injury to win an Olympic medal in 1992

The Canadian rower who defied a horrific leg injury to win a medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics

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.

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