The 22-year-old U.S. rider overcame a traumatic brain injury that fractured his skull in four places and left him in a coma twice. Doctors had told him he should never step on a snowboard again, but Canter persevered through years of rehabilitation.
Canter's bronze medal came when he landed a 1980-degree spin on his final run, the only such rotation of the day. His victory was an emotional triumph, proving the doctors wrong and fulfilling a promise to his younger self who lay in a hospital bed years ago.