Norwegian coach Bjørnar Håkensmoen gave Sara Renner a ski pole after hers was broken when a competitor stepped on it during the cross-country team sprint at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Norway's athlete ended up fourth, implying that this selfless act of sportsmanship may well have cost the Norwegian team a medal.

She said: "I just left everything out there today," Renner said after carrying her three-year-old daughter, Aria, in her arms through a series of TV interviews.

Her parents ran the high-altitude lodge for three decades, and she credits her youth there for her skiing success.

On February 2, 2007, Renner gave birth to a girl named Aria at a hospital in Banff, Alberta.