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Courtney Duncan might be banged up but she is far from beaten.
The tenacious 20-year-old hobbled her way into the Otago Daily Times and up to the third floor yesterday.
She put on a brave smile during the interview but there was no hiding her disappointment, or her injuries.
Her left hand will require corrective surgery and her right ankle is "pretty black and swollen''.
But the most painful part has been giving up on her world championship prospects.
The rookie had taken the women's motocross world championship by storm, winning three of her first four races.
She was on course to record another stunning victory when calamity struck.
The Palmerston flier collided with an errant photographer who had wandered dangerously close to the edge of the track.
Duncan was out in front and well in control with just two laps remaining in the first race of the German round last weekend.
"I took the same line every lap of the race ... because it sets you up better for the next corner,'' Duncan explained.
But this time when she came over the brow a photographer was right in her landing zone.
"It was too late. I was in the air. She smashed into my handlebars, which caused my hands to come off, and I had a pretty big crash.
"It has been hard to accept but there is nothing you can do about it. There are days when I'm down in the dumps but other days where I'm sweet.
"I know I'll come back from it. I've come back from injury before and I know the opportunities are still there and the future is still bright. I have a really good group of people behind me.''
Duncan saw a surgeon in Dunedin yesterday.
A scan has revealed a torn ligament in her hand, which will need surgery.
She expects a six-week lay-off, which "will give us about six weeks to prepare for the final two rounds''.
The organisers are understood to be deliberating whether the unnamed photographer will have her media pass revoked, but she has an unlikely supporter in Duncan.
"An apology would have been nice, but the way I see it is she made a mistake and unfortunately that mistake has had a huge impact on me and the world championship. But I don't want to take away what she loves to do because I've made mistakes, everyone has made mistakes before.
"Hopefully she learns from it and it shows other photographers that they need to be careful, because what we are doing is dangerous.''
Duncan's coach, Josh Coppins, could not be reached for comment yesterday but the Otago Daily Times understands he is awaiting a response from the organisers regarding compensation.
"I prepared extremely hard and put in a lot of work in the off-season to make sure we were ready to chase it [the title] and it had been all good,'' Duncan said.
"I think, to be honest with you, it was only going to get better as I learned more and got further into the season.
"It is a shame to go out like this but I've just got to keep my head up.''