The life of two-time Olympic champion and 11-time world champion Kristina Vogel changed irrevocably in June 2018 when she suffered spinal injuries in a crash while training on the Cottbus velodrome in Germany. It would be months before the cycling world would learn the extent of her injuries when, in September, Vogel went public with her new reality: she was paralysed from the chest down.
Three months later, in what was both a testament to her resilience and a need to be back among her track community, Vogel attended the Berlin World Cup, where she received a thunderous ovation from more than 2,000 athletes and fans who were in attendance.
Vogel was back in the velodrome, once again, at the recent Six Day Berlin, held from January 24-29 at the Velodrom Berlin. A year ago, she had won the women’s sprint competition at the event in convincing fashion. This time, she was firing the starting gun.
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Cyclingnews met with Vogel to talk about her new challenges, sport, politics and what it means to be an inspiration.
Vogel was training on a concrete track in Cottbus with Pauline Grabosch when she collided with another rider at 60 kph. She was airlifted to a hospital and placed in a medically induced coma and underwent several operations. However, during the accident, her spinal cord was severed at the seventh thoracic vertebra. She has full control of her arms, hands, and head, but she has been forced to come to terms with life as a person with paraplegia.
Vogel went public with her condition in an interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel in September. She was released from hospital in December, but she still faces a long rehabilitation. She acknowledged that adapting to life without the use of her legs is about more than just physical therapy and training.
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via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/kristina-vogel-sport-will-always-be-a-part-of-me
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