In the photo I took you can see not only the great Soviet skier, but also the girl who surprised the doctors after the operation ... But first things first.

Galina Kulakova – is 4-time Olympic champion, 5-time world champion, World Cup winner, 39-time USSR champion! It's not easy to imagine, but her professional sports career started by chance.

The girl went to school on skis and was engaged in the sport section. She participated in the competitions without much success. But in 1964 the amazing incident happened. Her sister, an athlete, fell ill and asked Galina to go to the competition instead of her: “Nobody knows you, nobody knows me. You will say: "I am Kulakova, and that's it!" Galina went to the competition and took the 2nd place. But the next day, it turned out that during that competition she was noticed by the coach Pyotr Neymushin and he offered her to go to the next competition.

In 1968, Galina had a chance to become an Olympic champion, but she could not cope with the descent and flew off the ski track. However, she returned home with two medals and began to work hard on her technique. Then Galina began to prepare for the 1970 World Championship and won in all races. But a disaster struck. She was taken to the hospital, and after the operation she had to learn to go again.

No one believed that Galina would be able to get up on the skis and return to sports. But she did everything possible and impossible. After a few weeks, she got to her feet and returned to training. When she won every single Olympic medal in Sapporo in 1972, not many people knew what the victory cost her.

Sometimes it is difficult to imagine what kind of fortitude, hard work and perseverance are worth such victories. Thanks to the story of Galina Kulakova, I want to believe that the impossible things can be possible!