The first race of the men's Cross Country skiing programme in the Olympics produced plenty of drama and a story to inspire.
In the first 200m Simen Krueger of Norway falls and two other skiers fall on top of him (top left). In a scene that looks more like a game of drunken Twister at a New Year's Eve party the competitors eventually extract themselves from the tangle and rejoin the race at the back of the field. For the commentators its clear, these guys' race is over.
But for Krueger the drama is only just beginning because he also has a broken pole and in the classic technique where using both poles is critical this is a major handicap. Eventually he reaches one of his team servicemen who can give him a new pole (left) and he is back in the race proper.
Over the next kilometres he works his way back to the field doing his best to minimise the extra energy he needs to use and by halfway when they change skis and techniques he has caught the back of the lead group and can recover a bit. It is important he is there because the Norwegian's are planning on using team tactics to challenge pre race favourite, Dario Cologna and Kreuger has a key supporting role in the plan.
With 6km to go Krueger hits the front to force the pace with the intention of weakening Cologna and opening the door for teammate Martin Sundby. But his surge takes everyone by surprise and he quickly opens a gap which builds to 22 seconds before the chase from behind starts.
It is then a question of whether can he hang on as the gap starts to come down with every kilometre. He does and the look of disbelief as he crosses the line to take Gold in his first Olympics says it all. Krueger could have taken the mindset of the commentators after that initial crash and saved himself for another day. Instead he chose to focus on the race one piece at a time and when an opportunity arose he was ready to take it. That is a champion mindset at work.