….I usually put my fingers in my ears and yell “LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA” but this time …my hands were full 🙂

Tracy and I had the chance to talk about Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir‘s withdrawal from the ISU Four Continents’ Figure Skating Championships. I wanted to know as an elite ice dancer how did she manage competing while injured – she never had to – and when do you as the competing athlete make “the call” to not move forward in an event.

She offered some terrific insights:

“It’s very difficult because as an elite athlete, you have gotten as far as you have because you don’t always listen to your body. As often as not, you push through pain to accomplish what you need to. Sometimes though you feel pain and you have to stop. Is this the kind of pain that needs your attention and requires rest. It’s tough. You have to be thinking about if I have to back off or do I push through?”

Tessa reported to my colleague Scott Russell at CBC that the “tightness” she feels in her left quad muscle had already started at home. Then why go to Taipei? I am sure I am not the only one who know what it’s like to have to hold back because of injury or illness and not be able to do something you really want to do. Faced with another delay or setback, and thinking you might burst if you don’t get to do your thing, you cross your fingers and convince yourself to take the chance and you bust out and do it. Finger crossing has been known to make the difference although this time maybe not so much. We’ve all beeen there. The great news is Tessa feels that this is simply a “bump in the road” and she and partner Scott are determined to defend their world title next month in Tokyo, Japan. Russell said when he pressed Scott to see if there was ‘wiggle room’ in their resolve to compete at Worlds, Scott Moir said simply and definitively “We’re going.”

Tracy Wilson talks about the recovery from injury as not being an exact science. There are so many things that go into having a full recovery line up with an athlete’s competitive calendar. Will the recovery allow for an athlete to continue training in some capacity? Is luck on their side? How about geography and the logistics involved with getting to an event. She says it is really hard to ‘read’ an injury and it’s response to treatment ad when it’s all said and done it’s part of an athlete’s personal quest. Wilson says

“Ultimately it is the athlete who has to have the inner wisdom to know what to do and be able to follow that instinct.”

Hopefully the stars will align for a speedy recovery for Tessa Virtue and anybody else for that matter struggling today with illness and injury.

Tagged with: , , , , , , ,