10 Incredible Stories From The Summer Olympics

After a plane crash in 1931, gold-medal-winning American sprinter Betty Robinson was believed to be dead. The mistake was only noticed by an undertaker after she had been found, thrown into the back of a car, and driven to a morgue to be buried. Robinson was then transferred to a hospital, where she stayed in a coma for seven months. For another six months after waking up, Robinson was confined to a wheelchair, and spent another two years learning to walk.

Five years later at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Robinson could not compete in the 100m sprint, as she couldn't bend into the starting position. Instead, she competed with the 4x100m relay team, with whom she had won a silver medal in 1928. The American team was sitting in second place as Betty Robinson was handing over the baton to the final runner, at which point the German team dropped the baton. The USA stormed into the lead, and took gold.

Just to reiterate that, a woman that almost died, spent seven months in a coma, and re-learned how to walk made it to the Olympics in five years, and won.