It took Russian cross-country skiier Anton Gafarov twice as long to cross the finish line as his opponents in the men's sprint free semifinals Tuesday, but he got the loudest cheer as he skied across the line. Canadian ski coach Justin Wadsworth got a substantial ovation, too.

The noisy crowd at the Laura Cross-country Ski & Biathlon Center was silenced when Gafarov crashed hard early in his run. As he slowly got back to his feet and attempted to resume skiing, it became apparent that his left ski was broken.

Gafarov was determined to finish his race, so he "limped" on one good ski and one broken ski toward the finish line very, very slowly.

Then this happened: