'Freak accident' a bump in the road for Rio-bound rugby player

Over the past few months, athletes from across Canada — and the world — have been gearing up to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

• Follow #OurAthletes: Jen Kish's road to Rio

Using the #OurAthletes hashtag, CBC News paired up with competitors to give Canadians a behind-the-scenes look at the competition, training and day-to-day life, both leading up to and during the games.

Injury won't stop rugby captain's road to Rio

Two weeks later, rugby player Jen Kish can still feel the impact of the tackle which sent her catapulting into the air, smashing the back of her skull into the pitch.

It happened when Kish and her team, the Canadian women's rugby Sevens, were in France for the the final World Series tournament of the season.  

Kish took the bone-crunching hit on the first day of the tournament, during Canada's second match against Russia. It resulted in a concussion and a neck injury.

I was pretty lucky to walk away from it with just minor injuries.- Jen Kish, rugby captain

"It was kind of a freak accident, because you don't see that too often in rugby. I was getting tackled by two girls and just landed right on my head and my neck," said Kish, who has captained the team since 2012. 

"I was pretty lucky to walk away from it with just minor injuries ... when you look at the film, it was pretty scary to look at."

But Kish won't be off the defensive line for long.

She's already been cleared for concussion symptoms, and is working through weeks of rehabilitation for her neck.

"The benefit of being in an elite program is that there is no injury too severe that will keep you out, because your staff is working night and day to try and get the edge on injury, and try and to get you back onto the field as soon as possible," Kish said.

"It's unfortunate that this injury is not allowing me to be full throttle the way I would like to be, but I'm still able to maintain with skills and conditioning."

For Kish, who started her rugby career in Edmonton more than 12 years ago, the injury is just a small bump on her road to Rio.

"Why stress about something you can't control? I have to trust that all the work I've done is going to pay off."

In the France final, Canada beat series champion Australia, They won the overall title based on points accumulated after their quarterfinal win over Spain — 29-19.

Years before, if a major player was injured, Kish said there would be anxiety among the team. Not anymore. 

"The girls remained standing and they ended up winning the tournament. And it gave us a big confidence boost," said Kish, who has no doubt they'll be at their best in Brazil.