Figure skater Kristen Spours on how she underwent spinal surgery months after securing her place at a debut Winter Olympics.
Three weeks after achieving a lifelong goal and qualifying for her first Winter Olympics, figure skater Kristen Spours woke up with no power in her left leg due to a ruptured disc in her spine.
The injury came seemingly out of nowhere although Spours had pushed herself hard before last March's World Championships, where her 22nd place secured her spot at next month's Milan-Cortina Games.
What followed was months of rehab, spinal surgery, more rehab and an injury that still has never fully healed, as well as a break from the sport from which the 25-year-old thought she would not return.
Everything Spours had ever wanted was one minute so close and within her grasp, and the next gone without a clear route back. It all took its toll mentally.
"At that point it felt like a life or death decision, I was so unhappy I couldn't continue down that path," Spours told BBC Radio Wiltshire.
"It had started much before my injury, I struggled with the pressure of Olympic qualifying.
"As soon as it finished there was no moment to take a breath, I was thrust straight into this injury with massive uncertainty and I reached a point by the time I had surgery and I still wasn't getting the recovery I needed.
"There were so many questions of whether I was coming back and what I wanted to do. I just needed everything to stop."
Spours, who lives in Swindon, made a triumphant return to the ice in November, winning the British women's singles national title for the second time - her first competition of the season.
Next week she is due to compete at the European Championships - her ninth-placed finish in 2025 was the best result by a British woman at Europeans since 2009.
Next month, she will form part of Team GB's eight-athlete figure skating squad at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.
It has been quite a year but Spours said the experience has given her a new perspective.
"My Olympic story is less about medals and more about resilience now and it's changed the way that I view it and I think that's actually a really positive thing for me," Spours added to BBC South Today.
"For the first time in my career I feel like I'm doing it for myself without any expectation or pressure.
"I'm competitive, I want to go out and be the best I can be but it's my journey, I went through it, I sat in the dark times, I went on that operating table and I dragged myself back with the support of others.
"Now I owe it to myself to go out and enjoy the moment and be there and be present in it."
Spours began skating age six and said the possibility of wearing sparkly costumes first grabbed her attention - although with catsuits her outfit of choice now she says she is "quite the opposite".
She has lived in the French Alps and Milan before settling with her husband in Wiltshire and credits her family and coaching team with supporting her as she found her way to this point through the challenges of the past year.
Spours said the experience has also made her "more equipped" to deal with the pressure and spectacle of the Olympics and
"The moment that I stand on [the ice] and I am an Olympian will be my moment," she added.
"My mum's coming to watch and I'm going to be like a kid on the stage trying to find her and wave."
Category: General Sports
