One month before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the short-course, long-course and open water swimming star Gregorio Paltrinieri came down with mononucleosis. From looking to defend his Olympic 1500m freestyle gold from Rio, Paltrinieri’s coach told him he’d need to rest – and lots of it. Maybe even through the Tokyo Olympics.

“But,” Paltrinieri said afterwards, “it gave me the chance to be mentally strong. My physiology, my body, it wasn’t 100 percent. But I knew I had to figure it out. It was something I had to get past to discover what I could do.”

Despite the forced rest and significantly curtailing his preparation for the Games, Paltrinieri would go on to win the silver medal in the 800m Freestyle and the bronze in the 10km Open Water Marathon.

Last summer, the Swiss speed skier also was hit hard by a bout of mononucleosis. Gisin, the defending Alpine Combined winner from the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, feared she wouldn’t make it into the start gate in Beijing.

"I was struggling so hard, I almost couldn't make it up the stairs all day long," Gisin told the Beijing 2022 website. "I went downstairs once and then sat on the couch all day."

Watching the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games while recovering on the couch, Gisin’s outlook began to improve as she drew inspiration from athletes overcoming adversity to compete amongst the best.

There was one athlete that stood out: Gregorio Paltrinieri.

"There was this Italian swimmer that also had mono a couple of months and weeks before and he got bronze in the 10km open water," Gisin said after her medal-winning super-G performance. "That was so amazing to see. It meant so much to me to see him compete because I was really deep, deep down in the hole and to see him achieve this gave me a lot of hope."

Last summer, Gisin’s boyfriend, Italian Olympic skier Luca De Aliprandini, sprung into action. He got in touch with Paltrinieri. The swimmer was more than happy to offer Gisin advice on how he came back from mono.

“I just tried to go for it and not look back,” a delighted Gisin said. "It's just way too beautiful that it all worked out."

Up next for Gisin? The much-anticipated women’s downhill coming on Tuesday where Gisin will be going for her third career Olympic medal.