Majdic to be honoured by Slovenia for her Olympic exploits (Roundup)

Feb 19, 2010, 19:00 GMT

Vancouver/Ljubljana - Cross-country skier Petra Majdic is to be honoured by her native Slovenia after taking Olympic bronze in Wednesday's sprint at the 2010 Vancouver Games despite racing with four broken ribs.

'She has shown what fighting spirit and endurance are possible and necessary in order to achieve a sporting objective. It is a unique success for the whole of Slovenian sport,' President Danilo Turk said Friday after the cabinet agreed to the measure.

Majdic was 'an example to the young generation' he added.

The 30-year-old skier had a tube inserted into her lung to drain the excess fluid stemming from her injury, a Slovenian National Olympic Committee spokesman said in Whistler.

The tube was meanwhile removed and Majdic was feeling better, but it was not immediately clear when she would be allowed to return to the Olympic Village in Whistler or to fly home.

According to Slovenia's team doctor Matjaz Turel, Majdic is not yet fit enough to return home. 'The long flight home would present a risk because of her lung injury,' he said.

Turel, by chance a lung specialist, told Slovenian reporters in Whistler that he 'saw people walking around with such an injury ... but that somebody with it takes part in a competition, that is a first for me.'