Sadly not all interactions have been happy ones. Lais Souza’s accident is the one event we wish had never happened. Lais began aerial skiing in mid-2013 and with the Olympics taking place in February of 2014, she was training in the United States while she waited to see if a spot would open up for Brazil.
Sadly, on January 27th, 2014, while skiing at high speed she lost control and hit her head with a tree. The accident was so serious that her life periled in the days following the accident. She eventually recovered but not without consequence, she was left quadriplegic at the age of 25.
Four years later, Lais is an example to follow with her optimism and determination to get through this extreme challenge life has presented her. Through her Instagram account, we can follow her everyday journey in rehabilitation in which she keeps a smile on her face while working towards recovering bit by bit her mobility.
The Olympic spot did open for Brazil and Lais’ training partner Josi Santos went in her place however if Lais had gone she would have become the first ever gymnast to attend Summer and Winter Olympics. Prior to Lais, another gymnast had already attempted aerial skiing, Australian Trudy McIntosh. Back in 2004, she was practicing the sport, however, a severe knee-injury ultimately prevented her from further developing in the sport.
Another scary moment came in February of 2016 when we heard Beth Tweddle had crashed into a barrier while training for the British reality TV Show “The Jump”. The show is about celebrities trying to master winter sports and several celebrities were injured during that particular season where Beth was injured.
In Beth’s case, she performed the jump well but her landing went wrong and she crashed into the barriers. She was airlifted to the hospital with two fractured vertebrae in her neck that required delicate surgery. She made an apparent full recovery but two years later, Beth says she continues to struggle physically and mentally with the consequences of the accident.
But in happier interactions about gymnastics and winter sports, 1988 Olympian Phoebe Mills came from a family of athletes, her brother was a speed skater and as child Phoebe also practiced the sport. In her post-retirement gymnastics life, she learned to snowboard and while she never competed she is a coach and judge of the sport. She was a judge at the 2014 Sochi Games.
And love also joined gymnastics and winter sports. In November of 2015, while recovering from knee surgery at a Russian hospital, Aliya Mustafina met bobsledder Alexei Zaitsev.
Their love story developed fast in November of 2016 they got married, in June of 2017 they welcomed their daughter, Alisa, approximately in November/December of 2017 they separated with Aliya announcing in April of 2018 that she had divorced Alexei a month earlier.
While their love story did not work out, we cannot help to wonder if baby Alisa will go her mother’s way with gymnastics or her father’s way with winter sports, figure skating would be an amazing choice if she were to go with winter sports, don’t you think?
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