ROME, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Italian Alpine skiing champion Sofia Goggia was hailed across Italy Tuesday for her bravery, as she earned a silver medal in the women's downhill just some 20 days after sustaining injuries to her knee.

Goggia was the defending Olympic downhill champion, and came within 0.16 seconds of defending her title at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

On January 23, Goggia crashed during the Alpine ski World Cup in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and suffered multiple serious injuries to her left knee.

Originally scheduled to be the flag bearer for Italy at the opening ceremony of Winter Olympics in Beijing, Goggia was pulled from that role so that she could rest.

In Tuesday's race, Goggia defied odds and briefly, near the end, held the lead with a time of 1 minute 32.03 seconds. But she was bested by 0.16 seconds by Switzerland's Corinne Suter, who took the gold medal. Nadia Delago, another Italian, finished the third to take bronze.

Finishing second, Goggia could not contain her glee when the results were announced.

"For me, the Olympic Games are the most important thing, my childhood dream," Goggia said on Italian television. "I gave everything I had just to be here after what happened in Cortina. I knew in my heart that after all the effort it took to come back from the crash, the race itself would be the easy part."

Italian media praised the result of the race on Tuesday. On social media in Italy, Goggia was also a trending topic all day.

La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy's sports daily, called Goggia "a giant" of sport even if she fell 0.16 seconds "from being a legend."

Milan-based Corriere della Sera called Goggia "ferocious" and said the result showed her "capacity to suffer."

Tutto Sport newspaper said Goggia's performance was a "source of national pride."

The medals for Goggia and Delago were two of 13 medals Italy has earned so far in Beijing, namely two gold medals, six silvers, and five bronze medals. According to media reports, this is the country's fourth best medal haul at a Winter Games.

Italy's Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo will jointly host the next Winter Olympics in 2026.