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"As a freestyle skier, Maggie Voisin is used to intense ups and downs. But she could have never predicted the drama of making it all the way to the Olympics\u2014as the youngest member of Team U.S.A. at age 15, no less\u2014only to be sidelined by an injury days before she was set to compete. Where others might have sulked, Maggie stayed in Sochi and proved there&amp;#39;s more than one way to be a good sport.\n\nA surprise pick for the U.S. freeskiing team, Maggie (who&amp;#39;s from Montana but trains in Utah) was on her way to the X Games in late January when she found out she would be going to the Olympics. &amp;quot;I was driving with my coach, and he was like, &amp;#39;Oh, I have to take a conference call.&amp;#39; I knew what it was about,&amp;quot; says Maggie. &amp;quot;We pulled over on the side of the road, and I played my music as loud as possible to calm my nerves. Finally I looked over to him, and he gave me the thumbs up.&amp;quot;\n\nIt wasn&amp;#39;t until she got to Sochi that she found out she was the youngest American athlete, a fact she describes as &amp;quot;such an honor.&amp;quot; But despite her age, she&amp;#39;s never been intimidated by skiers with more experience: &amp;quot;I&amp;#39;ve grown up competing against older athletes ever since I was really little.&amp;quot;\n\n\n\nWhen she arrived in Russia shortly before the Games to wrap up her training, things got off to an auspicious start. &amp;quot;I was skiing so well on the course and I was having fun,&amp;quot; Maggie says. &amp;quot;I definitely thought I could medal.&amp;quot; But then disaster struck: She broke her right fibula while practicing a trick. &amp;quot;That was one of the hardest moments I&amp;#39;ve ever had to deal with. I wasn&amp;#39;t in pain, but the disappointment haunted me and made me so sad. I felt like I let everyone down. My family came all the way to Russia to see me.&amp;quot;\n\nAt a time when no one would blame her for wallowing in her misery, Maggie made the decision to stay positive: &amp;quot;I told myself, &amp;#39;As hard as this is for you, you&amp;#39;ve got to enjoy the rest of the Games or you&amp;#39;re gonna regret it.&amp;#39;&amp;quot; She admits that attending the women&amp;#39;s slopestyle finals was bittersweet, though. &amp;quot;It was hard for me to watch, but I did everything I could to be there for them because I know they were there for me.\n\n\n\nBy the time the men&amp;#39;s finals came around, she was able to enjoy being a spectator wholeheartedly. It certainly helped that the U.S. ended up sweeping gold, silver, and bronze. &amp;quot;Everyone put up an amazing show,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;They kept the sport fun, and that&amp;#39;s what we&amp;#39;re all about. You could tell that everyone was enjoying every minute of it, and that was exciting to see.&amp;quot;\n\nPost-injury, Maggie had more free time on her hands in Sochi than she expected. &amp;quot;I tried to really enjoy the whole experience and take it all in,&amp;quot; she adds, noting that watching Team U.S.A. compete in hockey, bobsled, and luge were highlights she would have otherwise missed. &amp;quot;I&amp;#39;ve been able to meet a lot of other athletes, which has been awesome because before the Olympics, I only knew people that were in my sport.&amp;quot; And what&amp;#39;s it like being on the other side of the world? She&amp;#39;s had a good time exploring Russia, but concedes, &amp;quot;It&amp;#39;s different. When you go out of the Olympic Village, you see these big bodyguards walking around with huge guns. You&amp;#39;re like, &amp;#39;I&amp;#39;m definitely in a different country.&amp;#39;&amp;quot;\n\n\n\nWith the Olympics at a close, Maggie&amp;#39;s looking forward to a few months of much-needed recovery at home. Aside from hiking once her ankle heels, she&amp;#39;ll have the chance to catch up on The Walking Dead (her favorite TV show) and snack on strawberry Pop-Tarts (one of the foods she missed most in Russia). She&amp;#39;ll also finish up her freshman year, taking classes online to accommodate her training. Yes, training. You didn&amp;#39;t think she&amp;#39;d hang up her skis so soon, did you?\n\n&amp;quot;I&amp;#39;m so excited for the years to come,&amp;quot; she says, looking toward her obviously bright future. &amp;quot;This sport\u2014I love it and I wouldn&amp;#39;t want to be doing anything else.&amp;quot; In fact, she&amp;#39;s already got her eye on the next winter Olympics, which are going down in South Korea in 2018: &amp;quot;I want to compete. I want a chance to get on that podium.&amp;quot; And with an attitude like hers, it won&amp;#39;t surprise anyone if she does just that."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.teenvogue.com/story/maggie-voisin-olympics>