Kati Wilhelm

The German double-Olympic gold medallist in biathlon Kati Wilhelm had a mountain bike accident in June 2003 that left her with a broken scaphoid bone in the left hand. In training on a forest track in Oberhof (Thuringia) she fell awkwardly.

First the 26-year-old soldier took it calmly: «The hand is in a cast, I can not shoot or do anything for the arm muscles so I will do more training for the legs.» Concerning the accident she said: «It was a silly fall. I nearly stand with the bicycle, tumbled over and wanted to catch me with the hand.»

Her thumb, hand and forehand were for two weeks in a cast. In August she explained retrospectively: «I cannot complain about the past few weeks. The broken hand did not exactly prevent me from training. I was taken care of well and think my preparation has therefore been good. The first few weeks I was not able to shoot, after all I was unable to hold the rifle. In terms of my physical conditioning, there was actually no problem. I could do leg work, like running and roller skiing. I trained with one pole in my good hand. It was not so bad; the leg strength may not have been all that bad.