Hina Hayata was not even able to brush her hair because of the pain in her left hand the night before she was supposed to play for a bronze medal in the table tennis competition at the Paris Olympics.
It was so bad, the southpaw had trouble using her hand during the match. The 24-year-old, though, showed the heart of a warrior and battled through the pain. The reward she got at the end made it all worth it.
Hayata fell behind early before winning four of the next five games to defeat South Korea’s Shin Yubin in the women’s singles bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics at South Paris Arena on Saturday afternoon.