2010 Olympic Team Hopefuls Return from Injury

Sports Injuries Cannot Keep These Canadians from Olympic Games

Oct 30, 2009

Making an Olympic team takes incredible dedication and commitment. Trying to achieve that goal whilst overcoming significant health problems takes that and so much more.

A number of Canadian athletes hope to the make it to the Olympic winter games in Vancouver/Whistler 2010 having spent the better part of this critical preparation year rehabilitating from significant injuries. Some will make the grade, while others may fall short, but as the winter sport season gets underway, and World Cup events and Olympic trials begin, the reason for the hard work and gruelling rehabilitation schedule becomes clear.

Jan Hudec, Czech-born Canadian downhill ski racer, crashed at a downhill race in Val d'Isere in February only three weeks after returning to the sport. After surgery (the fifth on his right knee), and gruelling rehab from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear, Hudec found himself facing another intense rehab stint less than a year away from the 2010 Olympics. The recent retirement of Hermann Maier after a knee injury may have prompted Hudec to call it a career.

But Hudec told Lori Ewing of the Canadian Press that he "never let the possibility of missing the Vancouver Olympics enter his mind." He plans to return to downhill skiing in November at a World Cup race in Lake Louise on Nov 28-29, his hometown venue. Back in 2007 he made history by becoming the only Canadian ever to win a World Cup downhill at Lake Louise.

Soon after his last injury, Hudec said, "When I ski at the Olympics next year it will be to win a medal." Perhaps Hudec can make more history and become the first Canadian to win an Olympic gold on home soil.

Aerial Skiing Concussion

Veronika Bauer, after banging her head on two separate occasions whilst aerial skiing in January and February 2009, continued to participate in events, finishing fourth in a World Cup event in Utah after the first injury. But continued nausea, headaches and confusion (common signs of a concussion injury) resulted in Bauer being ordered to cease all activity - as she says on her blog, she went from 'training hard all day, every day, to absolute zero stimulation.'

Bauer is one Canada's best aerial skiers and a former World Champion (2001) with high hopes for the 2010 Olympics. Despite not training at all through the summer, she and her coach had a plan. Each day her coach, Daniel Murphy, emailed Bauer the training plan, and she would then visualize herself completing the routine. As with Hudec, Bauer's confidence that she would be in the Olympics never wavered. When asked if she ever doubted her ability to be at the Olympics, Bauer said, "Not at all. I have somehow maintained my confidence that I'll be right where I left off."

Long Shot for Speed Skater

Long track speed skater Mike Ireland is a veteran of three Olympics - he would like to make one more before retiring. Given the quality, upcoming young skaters looking for spots on the Olympic team, Ireland knows it will be a great challenge. He told Allan Maki of the Globe and Mail, in an article titled Mike Ireland: Down but Never Out, that being in the Olympics would be "satisfying - to show I can overcome stuff and still skate with those young guys."

The stuff he has overcome to be competing at this stage in his career prove his desire to win is still strong. A cycling accident left him with post-concussion syndrome and in November 2008, a shoulder break could have been career ending. But the will to participate in one last Olympics on home soil was too great. Clara Hughes, Olympic medalist from Turin 2006, believes Ireland has the ability to win, "He gets lower than anyone, and he just attacks the race.....He could surprise a lot of people on the day." First of all he will need to make the team at the December Olympic trials.

On a side note, the day after Ireland snapped his shoulder, Jeremy Wotherspoon broke his arm. He recently made the Canadian long track speed skating team for the World Cup season after battling through rehab over the summer. He is not a hundred percent yet so the World Cup races will bring much needed pre-Olympic competition.

Chandra Crawford, Canada's Olympic darling in Turin 2006, has fully recovered from surgery to relieve compartment syndrome, a repetitive muscle use injury that can lead to serious consequences. As she missed the whole of last season, Crawford must qualify for the Olympic team by finishing in the top twelve of a World Cup race this season. Her first competitive action since the surgery will be in November.

Prior to her winning race in 2006, Crawford wrote in her diary, 'Live Today with Undiluted Passion for my Sport.' Seeing her teammates leave for training camp , and being left behind to rehab, reinforced Crawford's passion for the sport. "It's the people and the chance to push my limits every day," she told Joanne Elves of the Globe and Mail in July 2009.

More recently on her blog, she reiterated her physical readiness for the upcoming season and the Olympics: "Injuries are at bay and thanks to Own the Podium and CCC I have the physio resources in place to make it to the Olympics in one piece."

Most athletes will do whatever it takes to reach the Olympic podium. Sacrifices are the norm. Hopefully the effort, time and energy spent rehabbing will bring the results these athletes have visualized. As the Olympic torch arrives in British Columbia, signalling the impending games, time is running out for these athletes to fine tune their bodies. Though February will be the true test of physical readiness, these athletes have already proven their mental toughness.

The copyright of the article 2010 Olympic Team Hopefuls Return from Injury in Winter Olympic Games is owned by Lorah Delaney. Permission to republish 2010 Olympic Team Hopefuls Return from Injury in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.