source: https://powerski-lab.blogspot.com/2026/09/knees-skiing-3-my-first-surgery.html As I shared last time, a failed jump landing on Yongpyong's Silver Slope left me with my first knee injury: a complete ACL tear. Back then — around 1989 — there was a saying: "If you tear your cruciate ligament, your career is over." For an athlete, a torn ACL was almost a death sentence. Deciding on surgery The next year I entered university and made up my mind to have the surgery. At the

source : https://powerski-lab.blogspot.com/2026/09/knees-skiing-2-1988-my-first-knee-injury.html I started ski racing later than most — in my first year of middle school. Because I started late, I had to work harder than anyone. Back then, training eight or more hours a day (dawn, morning, afternoon, and extra sessions) was simply normal. My body grew strong, and my thighs became so thick that people would stop and stare as I walked to school — "Is that guy an athlete?" (My t