World and Olympic champion cyclist Kristina Vogel has described how she accepted she would never walk again just moments after a devastating training crash.
The incident at the Cottbus Veoldrome in June left the 11-time world champion with serious spine and chest injuries and it was later announced she was paralysed after major surgery.
But the German rider says she still wants to "give something back" to cycling despite the ordeal.
Addressing a news conference at the Berlin hospital where she has undergone treatment, Vogel, 27, described how -- just moments after the collision -- she had accepted her walking days were over.
"I said 'breathe, breathe, breathe' and then I checked. Then I saw where I lay, how I was.
"When my shoes were off I knew that this was it with the walking. I realised quickly I would not walk again."
Vogel told the news conference she was looking forward to an independent life and would use the competitive spirit built up in years of cycling to take on the challenge.
"Tears will not help. It is what it is," she said.
"I am ready to take on this challenge and make the best of it. I want to get back into life, not depend on a lot of help. I must use this strength I had in competitions for my life. Asking 'why me' does not bring you any further.
"For the first time I have time to take decisions for me, to be free and learn step by step what I need to. I want to do things for cycling. I want to give something back."
The multiple Olympic champion was placed in a medically-induced coma when she was hit by a minibus in 2009 but battled back to win gold medals at the London and Rio Games.
She added she had not had any contact with the Dutch rider involved or with the Dutch cycling federation since the collision.
"I have had no contact with the rider," she said.
"Neither the Dutch federation nor the rider have been in contact."