Olympic Dream Over Before Games Begin

A crash ends one athlete's Sochi Olympics

With just days until the opening ceremonies in Sochi, one Olympic dream is already over.

Norwegian snowboarder Torstein Horgmo crashed in a practice run on Monday, breaking his collar bone and taking him out of the competition.

Horgmo was a medal contender in slopestyle, a new sport to the Olympics. This would have been his first Winter Games.

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The 26-year-old trained in Carlsbad last year, and another athlete who trained in San Diego knows exactly how he's feeling today.

"My heart goes out to him," Arielle Martin said.

Martin was part of the 2012 Olympic BMX team that trained at the Olympic training center in Chula Vista. Two days before the team was scheduled to leave for London, Martin crashed while training, leaving her with a lacerated liver, punctured lung and broken heart.

"That was probably the worst day of my career, maybe the worst day of my life to date," Martin said.

"I was crushed. My whole world came crashing down. You build something up for so long, and you're so focused on it."

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Martin did eventually get back on the bike and is coming off a very successful 2013 season.

An injury also took her out of the 2008 games.

Martin says she's still uncertain what the future holds as far as BMX or another possible Olympic try.

As for the Norwegian snowboarder she's never met, but with whom she has a lot in common, Martin has one specific hope.

"I hope he comes back and gets back on the snowboard. Getting back on the bike was the best thing I ever did."

There have been several complaints from athletes about the slopestyle course in Russia, claiming it is too steep. Olympic organizers said they will consider making adjustments, but said Horgmo's crash had nothing to do with the course conditions.

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