He relearned how to walk. Then he relearned how to ski. He endured almost unbearable pain when he crammed his swollen, distorted leg into a ski boot.
It was clear nothing was going to stop Hermann Maier from returning to World Cup skiing competition.
And after recapturing the World Cup overall title that was his before a terrifying motorcycle accident nearly cost him a leg three summers ago, it is now equally clear Maier's comeback was not only symbolic.
"This is my fourth overall title," said Maier, after clinching the title Saturday in his first full season back on the circuit. "It is amazing. At the start of the season my goal was to finish the season. To race as many races as possible.
"So you can imagine how surprised I am."
On the women's side, Sweden's Anja Paerson won her first career World Cup overall title, finishing sixth in the final women's slalom and leaving her untouchable in the general rankings.
Close to kidney failure and having his leg amputated in a motorcycle crash in August 2001, Maier stunned himself, fans and competitors, defying all the odds and calmly returning to the summit of ski racing this season in one of the most amazing comebacks in sports.
This season, Maier won two downhill races. He captured three super-Gs, finishing on the podium in all seven races to secure the discipline globe as well.
Three other skiers stood in line to challenge Maier's lead atop the overall standings entering Saturday and a unique series of events ruled each of them out.
Maier secured the overall title when bad weather pushed the race jury to scratch the season's final giant slalom. The call also handed Bode Miller his first World Cup trophy.
But the decision left Austrian Benjamin Raich and Finland's Kalle Palander fuming helplessly as their chances for the overall and giant slalom crowns were abruptly terminated.
Overcoming fog that was already making visibility difficult on the Sises course, Raich posted the fastest time in the opening leg of the giant slalom and sat poised to move within 52 points of Maier in the overall rankings.
Palander, meanwhile, crossed second and looked capable of overtaking Miller in the giant slalom rankings to win the discipline title. Trailing Miller by 61 points, Palander needed to win or finish runnerup and hope Miller failed to score.
Miller played right into his hand, committing a massive blunder in the upper section. He ended up on his back, his skis in the air, removing any chance of becoming the first American overall champion since Phil Mahre in 1983.
But midway through the second leg, the race was called off because of thickening fog. Shortly after, International Ski Federation racing chief Guenther Hujara announced the second leg would not be rescheduled or rerun, leaving Palander without a chance to beat Miller.
"I think I deserved the GS title, but I would have been happier to see that race go off and see what Palander would do," Miller said. "Winning a GS season is one of the things I've wanted to do since starting ski racing. It was a little bit anticlimactic."
Some felt the jury should have staged the second leg the following day, even if it meant canceling the women's giant slalom, as all the women's titles have already been decided and so many things were at stake on the men's side.
"You are working one year and you have the chance for the first time in Finnish history to bring home the giant slalom title and you lose it [on a crap shoot]," said Palander's coach Christian Leitner. ``He had no chance to win it fair on the slope.
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