Nina O’Brien Photo: GEPA pictures

Arguably the most cringeworthy moment of last February’s Olympics, Nina O’Brien isn’t dwelling on the horrific crash or broken leg she sustained in Beijing. She’s focusing on the shining moments from her first Olympic performance and elated about returning to snow.

The 24-year-old San Francisco native got the green light from her doctors this September to travel to Europe and begin on-snow training. She’ll click into skis for the first time since the giant slalom crash last February that left her with a compound tibia fracture, broken fibula, and talus fracture in her left leg.

“The motivation and dreams and goals are still there,” O’Brien says. “That being said, I’m sure it’s going to feel different and take some time to trust myself and find my fast skiing again. The plan is to continue taking it day by day and see how much I can push myself. I’ve put in a lot of work over these past months, so I’m really excited to get back on snow and see how everything feels.”

What happened in Beijing

O’Brien had dished out a stunning series of turns in the first run of the Olympic giant slalom on Feb. 7, 2022. She was sitting in sixth place coming into the second run, during which she was on pace for a top 10 finish before plowing through the final gate and tumbling across the finish line. She saw the bones of her lower leg sticking out of her sock. It was a rough ending to her Olympic debut as well as her season.

 She underwent her first surgery before leaving Beijing. There, she was fitted with an external fixator (ex-fix) – a metal frame that held her broken tibia in place through several incisions.

“It was freaky to wake up with that on my leg,” she recalls. “I woke up and saw metal sticking out of my leg. It was like, woah, what did you guys do? I felt like a total Transformer.”

After flying home to Denver, O’Brien had to wait several days for the swelling to go down before getting another surgery at The Steadman Clinic in Vail. The operation involved inserting a rod, plate and numerous screws into her leg. She was on crutches for a few weeks and started physical therapy. The initial goal was simply re-learning to bend her ankle.

“Seven months ago, it all seemed daunting,” she says. “It was like, I’m supposed to be able to get back to jumping and lifting to my previous best? It took a village. I had an awesome PT in Denver and I frequently made trips to Park City. Whether I was at Dartmouth or at home in Denver, it was a very collaborative process. I’m so grateful to have always had people checking in on me.”

One step at a time

Studying Economics at Dartmouth, O’Brien returned to school last spring and is hoping to re-enter the final phase of her studies in March or April. But first, she’s going to dedicate the coming winter to skiing and working her way back to the top.

Arriving to this point has taken several small wins along the way.

“Getting off crutches was huge. Also getting the ex-fix off,” she says. “From there, it was a real battle getting my ankle flexion back. It was something I had to work on constantly for months. Every few hours I had to be stretching, strengthening, and working through what was uncomfortable, tight, and painful. For a long time, I couldn’t lunge because my ankle wouldn’t allow me to drop that knee to the floor. It felt so strange and frustrating to be stuck, unable do the simple movements that I’ve done my entire life. In those days, my progress felt the slowest. But then, all of a sudden, one day it was doable. And finally, with the ankle flexion, everything else gradually got better.”

O’Brien won’t go from the gym directly to skiing glaciers. After making the rounds at weddings across the country at the end of the summer, Paula Moltzan’s on the East Coast and former teammate Resi Stiegler’s in Jackson, Wyo., O’Brien is back in Europe on skis. She begins her first stint on snow at the indoor facility in Belgium.

“I’ve never had a serious injury before, so I really have no idea what I’ll feel like, pain-wise, or when I’m skiing. All of those are question marks right now,” she says. “I have to do a return to snow protocol, which includes a lot of free skiing and building up the volume of turns. I’ll continue to stay in Europe and meet the team in a few weeks. Thankfully, no one is pressuring me to be at the start gate before I’m ready. Racing Soelden seems aggressive, so we’ll take it day-by-day and see how I feel.”

Comeback goals

The 2019 NorAm overall champion, O’Brien won races in every discipline before moving up to the World Cup. She has since focused on technical disciplines. She nabbed her first World Cup points – a 23^rd place – in front of the massive home crowd at the 2018 Killington slalom. By 2020-21, she began breaking into the top 10 in GS, slalom and parallel. After firing into last season with a ninth place in the season opener, she had hit a steady rhythm of consistent finishes when her season ended abruptly.

But she’s not looking back.

“I try not to dwell in that moment or think about it too much, honestly.  I have a lot of great moments and memories from that trip which I’d rather hang onto,” she says of the Olympics. “Yes, it spurred a lot of pain and a long rehab process. Unfortunately, injury is a reality for many in our sport and up until this past winter, I’ve been lucky to avoid it. Going through this, I’ve taken a lot of comfort in knowing so many amazing athletes have been through similar things and come back to be better than ever before.”

Coming back better than ever is the plan, but one day at a time.  

“It’s a process,” O’Brien says. “I want to feel confident. I want to move like an athlete again. Personally, I feel I have a lot more to show and things I want to do. I really hope my best is yet to come.”