Alpine Skiing
Emily Brydon hopes for a miracle
Emily Brydon's life over this past year
has been a roller-coaster ride from the get-go. Canada's
top all-around alpine skier has lived through a range
of emotions, from the euphoria of climbing her first
World Cup podium to the frustration of being sidelined
by injuries in a pair of crashes seven months apart
and subsequent knee surgeries.
It's a good thing she's so darn optimistic.
Brydon is determined to defy odds stacked against
her and appear in a Canadian Olympic uniform in Salt
Lake City this February. It would be an amazing feat
considering the 21-year-old skier was forced to swap
her ski poles for a set of crutches in mid-November
after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)
in her left knee while training in Colorado before
the start of the 2001-02 World Cup season.
She caught the edge of her downhill
ski in the snow during a super-G run. It didn't take
long for her to realize the severity of the injury.
"I knew I did something not so
good," says Brydon ruefully. "I kind of
felt that pop, and that feeling is quite familiar
to me right now.
The Fernie, B.C. native became well-acquainted
with such sensations after tearing the ACL, MCL and
medial meniscus in her right knee when she crashed
at the world alpine championships in February. It
took 5 1/2 months of physiotherapy and rehabilitation
before she could return to skiing. A few months later,
she's back in familiar territory.
"There's no rhyme or reason; I
think that was the hardest," says Brydon. "I
could find a reason for it to happen in February,
but this time you think, 'Why? I've already learned
that.' Well, maybe I didn't learn it well enough."
Brydon initially thought her season
was finished. But after some encouragement from Dr.
Pat McConkey at the University of B.C. in Vancouver,
her sights are back on competing in Salt Lake.
The odds against her are staggering,
but Brydon remains undeterred, aiming for a January
return to the snow. There's just one catch -- first
she must learn to walk again.
Rehabbing
at "mach speed"
There is no time for baby steps in Brydon's rehabilitation.
It takes the average person about nine months to recover
from a similar ACL tear. An elite athlete can do the
same in about three or four months.
Brydon hopes to do it in six weeks.
"I'm going mach speed through it,"
says Brydon. "You just have to push yourself
a lot more and push the limit. You're always testing
the max, whereas before you just went in your comfort
zone."
The greatest struggle for Brydon is
the mental aspect of undergoing rehab for the second
time in a matter of months.
"This injury is a lot easier to
come back from (physically), but mentally it's a lot
more difficult. Before I was motivated and really
happy to do everything and excited, yet this time
around, I'm motivated and excited, but nothing is
new. It's monotonous because I know what I have to
do and I know the process it takes."
Physically, Brydon's first challenges
are relearning to walk and getting the full range
of motion back in her knee. After that, she'll increase
her dry land training, and round out her preparations
with the help of a sports psychologist, physiotherapist
and masseuse.
Brydon says she won't race the speed
events if she makes it to Salt Lake, opting instead
to ski the slalom. The focus of her first Winter Games
has also shifted.
"I'm going to train to win, but
realistically it's definitely a learning experience
for me more than anything else," says Brydon.
"I'm going to go there, and I'm going to live
the Olympics. Then I'm going to take that experience
for four years away."
Comeback
not definite
Brydon is oozing positive energy, but she remains
realistic, realizing such a rapid return would be
one for the books. She's also aware of the intense
weeks of work ahead before the final decision can
be made.
"It's so hard," says Brydon.
"You can make predictions and goals, but it's
really your body that'll tell you if it's possible
or not.
"Obviously I'm going to start preparing
for circumstances that may happen in six weeks, just
so when they come up, I'll be ready for them."
Other prominent
absentees
Brydon can console herself, in any case, that in addition
to her abundant drive and talent, she's young and
should be back for the 2006 Games in Torino, barring
further catastrophic injuries. And she's not alone.
Many of the sport's biggest stars won't be competing
or are questionable for the 2002 Games.
The biggest blow suffered by the skiing
world is the loss of world super-G champion Regine
Cavagnoud. The French ski star died in October from
head injuries sustained in a training run collision
with German coach Markus Anwander on Austria's Pitztaler
glacier. The accident occurred just two days after
Cavagnoud, who had overcome a string of injuries early
in her career to become one of the premier skiers
on the circuit, opened the World Cup season with a
giant slalom bronze in Soelden, Austria.
Reigning World Cup champion Janica Kostelic
is another question mark. She is recovering from September
surgery to remove cartilage from her left knee. It
was the teen ski sensation's third time under the
knife this year.
Kostelic is expected to return to racing
by December at the latest, but history has shown that
joining the World Cup circuit midway through the season
can impede Olympic success.
