She was resuscitated five times then placed in an induced coma for six days.
Her injuries included a lacerated liver, damage to her kidneys, a fractured shoulder, a punctured lung and broken ribs. A fragment of her shoulder bone travelled to her eye through her blood stream, leaving her blind on her right side.
Extraordinary, then, that she was part of a team that retained their Olympic team eventing title at the Paris 2024 Games, Team GB's first gold of the 33rd Olympiad. And there was further rapture from British fans as she followed team gold with bronze in the individual competition.
Great Britain ended the equine triathlon - which includes dressage, cross-country and jumping - with a combined score of 91.3 penalty points to finish 12.3 clear of France, who took silver on 103.6. Japan took bronze with 115.8, the country's first Olympic medal in this event.
Against the hopes of the heavily partisan home crowd and in temperatures which reached 30C (86F), Collett, Tom McEwen and Ros Canter took gold after the final showjumping stage. It is the fifth team gold medal won by Great Britain in the event, an Olympic record.
Collett was leading the individual rankings when she took to the arena for her round in the team competition but a fence down and a time penalty dropped her to bronze. She retained that position in the final jump-off, finishing with a clear round and 23.10 penalty points; teammate McEwen was only 2.7 points adrift in fourth.
Denne historien er fra July 30, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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Denne historien er fra July 30, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian.
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