– Everything was just shit – VG

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– I really think I never fully understood how bad it was. I realized it was bad, but maybe not as bad as the doctors said, says Marcus Kleveland in the intro in a 15 minute documentary the snowboard star has uploaded on his own YouTube-kanal, where he opens up about the brutal knee injury he suffered on December 15, 2018 in Colorado.

Kleveland broke the kneecap into countless small pieces during the training for the Dew Tour. The young talent slipped off a rail (railing) and fell into another rail with his knee first. As a result, he had to assemble the kneecap with over 20 screws.

– If I thought his life would change after the injury? YES! says the surgeon who operated on him, Tom Hackett, in the documentary and describes the injury as “the worst knee injury I have seen”.

– Like putting a lot of gravel together into a stone

The young top athlete from Dombås fought for his career.

– It was very painful and took a long time. Everything was just crap. I needed help with things everywhere. It was a tough period, but then I’m extraordinarily happy to have all the supporters I have. Without them, I do not know where I would have been now, says Kleveland to VG.

Fortunately for the 22-year-old, he was in good hands, and the surgeons were able to put the kneecap together bit by bit.

– We brought out some very small screwdrivers, which we almost never use. It was like putting a lot of gravel together into a rock, says Hackett.

– It was quite heavy for a while, but I am very grateful that it turned out the way it did, says Kleveland.

Back in record time

The Dombås boy was first told by the clinic that operated on him that it could take up to two years before he could snowboard again.

But in a short time, the snowboard profile was back – only 18 weeks after the operation. It was the same day that Kleveland turned 20 years old.

– It gave a real boost when you saw the progress. I did not want to destroy something, but I had short goals I wanted to achieve, and I think that helped me a lot, he says.

– I just had to think positively and have small goals all the way to motivate myself, he adds.

– I hoped that he would be able to walk again, and that he would be able to stand a little on a snowboard for fun, the surgeon says.

And surgeon Hackett was very surprised at how fast it had gone.

– He sent me some video clips of him driving and I remember thinking ‘Wow, he’s back on snowboarding already? This is fantastic “, says the surgeon in the documentary.

Kleveland had to withdraw from the X Games in Aspen 2020 as he was not quite ready for the big jumps yet, but in 2021 he was back too full. World Cup gold in slopestyle, X Games gold in Big Air and World Cup bronze in Big Air were decided after the season.

– I spent a lot of time getting comfortable doing the big tricks, because it was so damn scary to come back. But I have never been so sure of the board as at the end of last year, says Kleveland as he laughs a little over the phone.

The breakthrough

The snowboarder made a name for himself as a 13-year-old when he put a triple cork on Vierli in 2013.

Four years later, Kleveland got to try his hand at the most generous company when he was invited to the X Games in Aspen. There he was the first driver in the world to land a quad cork in a competition. It resulted in silver in the Big air competition and gold in the slopestyle.

– Traveling from there with one gold and one silver was completely unthinkable, says Kleveland.

Did you read this? Knocked out after corona – loses important Olympic qualifier

Important season

Now the World Cup in Laax (January 13-16), the X Games in Aspen (January 21-23) and the Olympics in Beijing (February 6-15) await Kleveland. The Norwegian is the favorite in all the tournaments, even though he himself does not like to admit it.

– I feel everyone who is going to participate in the Olympics has good enough tricks and run, so it’s not just me people need to watch out for. Everyone can win, he says.

And the charge for the important season he has ahead of him, he does it at home at Dombås.

– The shape is great. Now I enjoy myself at home at Dombås and fatten up on Christmas food, the snowboard star says with a laugh.

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