Michela Moioli "Against All Odds" documents her fall and rise to Olympic gold
Dec 18, 2018·Snowboard Cross
MADRID – 13 December 2018 – Determined to achieve her Olympic dream, Italian snowboarder Michela Moioli had to overcome a serious knee injury on her way to becoming Italy’s first snowboard cross Olympic champion. Her inspirational story of how she beat the odds to claim gold is featured in an all new episode of the Olympic Channel original series Against All Odds presented by Bridgestone available now.
Moioli helped to premiere the episode, titled Michela Moioli: From crashing out to fairy-tale gold in PyeongChang, in her home country at the 2018 international Sport Movies & TV FICTS film festival held in Milan on 16 November where it received a “Garland d’Honneur” award for Olympic spirit.
As a teenager, the Italian snowboarder was an up-and-coming snowboard cross racer who dreamed of one day winning Olympic gold. At the 2014 Sochi Games, Moioli was the youngest competitor in the snowboard cross finals at just 18 years old. After cruising into the final race, her medal hopes quickly evaporated when she crashed and suffered a season-ending knee injury that kept her out of competition for nearly a year.
“I was agitated, because I wanted a medal at any cost and I started to not see clearly, to worry, to have disconnected thoughts,” said Moioli.
Not about to give up her Olympic dream, Michela worked past the injury and qualified for the 2018 PyeongChang Games where she was an immediate favourite. Rising to the occasion, she gave a thrilling come-from-behind performance to win gold and claim the title of Olympic champion.
“I think about how much time had passed, how much had happened, how I’ve grown, how I’ve changed and what I’ve been through,” she added. “It was what I wanted since I was a little girl and I believed it. Finally, I knew it was true – I was the new Olympic Champion!”
The journey behind athletes who embody the Olympic spirit are at the heart of the Olympic Channel’s documentary series**Against All Odds** presented by Bridgestone. Each episode is inspired by the story of an athlete who offers a first-person account of a key turning point in their life that demonstrates how personal will and determination helped them to overcome adversity and reach their goals.
The eighth and final episode of Against All Odds is now available on-demand on the Olympic Channel global digital platform. Previous episodes of Against All Odds featuring the inspirational journeys of blind swimmer Enhamed Enhamed (ESP), bobsledder Bill Schuffenhauer (USA), rugby sevens’ Jerry Tuwai (FIJ), cross-country skier Petra Majdic (SLO), weightlifterÓscar Figueroa (COL), sailor Santiago Lange (ARG) and trampolinist Bryony Page (GBR) are also available.
Against All Odds is produced exclusively for the Olympic Channel by MediaPro from Spain.
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