Brownlee on comeback trail after stepping up recovery from achilles injury
April 9, 2012 Leave a comment
From Daily Mail
Triathlete Alistair Brownlee has stepped up his recovery from an achilles injury sustained last month, with his coach revealing on Monday that the Olympic gold medal contender has stopped using a protective boot.
The 23-year-old reigning triathlon world champion, and potential star of this summer’s Games in London, had his preparations disrupted when he tore the tendon in his left ankle at the end of February.
But Brownlee’s training is now getting closer to normality, with running sessions not far off. The former Leeds University student had only previously removed the boot twice a day to go swimming.
Put it there! Brownlee’s recovery is moving forward
‘Alistair has been wearing an air cast as a precaution following the diagnosis of a slight tear to his left achilles, but he is now no longer using this,’ Malcolm Brown, British Triathlon’s Olympic Programme Manager, told Sportsmail.
‘During the last few weeks he’s been in the water more frequently and he is swimming well. He’s on the bike, and he will be running shortly.
‘We’re getting good advice from specialists and not rushing things. We’re going through a process to put the strength and mobility back and get him out running again as soon as possible.’
Together with his 21-year-old brother Jonathan, who finished runner up in the world last year, the Brownlees could provide the story of 2012. They are currently training in Yorkshire.
Hard yards: Alistair (left) with brother Jonathan before his injury
Speaking after sustaining the tear, the senior sibling explained: ‘I felt pain in my calf and ankle. Alarm bells sounded.
‘It’s hard to put into words just how frustrating it is not being able to train. For me it is the loss, for a month at the very least, of the thing I love.
‘Triathlon drives me and I don’t do it for the money, I do it for the love of the sport. This is not just a job for me, it’s my passion, so the setback has hit me hard.
‘People want to know how it affects my Olympic preparations. It’s hard to tell at the moment but if I can get this boot off quite quickly and get training, I have plenty of time to get myself fit.
‘I’ve shown before that I can return from injury to championship-standard competition in the space of a month.
‘However, I won’t be overdoing it in training to make up for lost time as that can be very dangerous – I’ll just return at my own pace.’
Brownlee’s first major race of the year is the ITU World Triathlon San Diego on May 12. His team had never intended that he would race the World Triathlon Series event in Sydney in April.
