American skier Heidi Kloser walks in Opening Ceremony a day after suffering devastating leg injury

American skier Heidi Kloser suffered a devastating setback when she tore both her ACL and MCL and fractured her femur when she crashed during a practice run Thursday. To add to the heartbreak, as the 21-year-old Kloser, one of the world’s top skiers, was loaded into the ambulance, she asked her parents if she was still an Olympian even though she never completed an official run.

“Of course you are,” her father assured her.

Kloser certainly looked like an Olympian on Friday – just a day after her accident -- she bravely crutched her way through the Opening Ceremony with her fellow American athletes.

Despite being unable to participate, Kloser tweeted a photo of herself giving a thumbs up sign prior to the Ceremony and had a smile on her face as she made her way around Olympic Stadium with the support of her teammates by her side.

The injury is undoubtedly a huge disappointment for Kloser, the No. 4 ranked moguls skier in the world, but it's fantastic to see her still taking in the Olympic experience.