Primož Kozmus, Olympic hammer champion (© Getty Images)
Olympic Hammer Throw champion returned from warm weather training camp with a bad injury but his strong will has already put him back on the right track...
“Hi Everybody,
“Well, the very last day I spent at my winter training in South Africa proved that exaggeration is never good. I was challenged in an unusual “discipline”, not typical for hammer throwers trainings – a sprint. And because my body simply cannot take it when I put pressure on certain types of muscles, my thigh biceps got torn.
“This is how my otherwise very successful South African experience unfortunately ended. Immediately after returning home I visited doctors who said the injury was not very minor, and that I was supposed to rest for about three months.
“Here we go again, I thought ... Another strike against my health, which can be either an athlete's strongest weapon or his greatest source of misfortune. This injury came exactly at the time when I received the shocking news of the death of my colleague, the great champion Kamila Skolimowska. Even more, it stimulated my thoughts that athletes are not heroic, strong and mystical figures from a distant world, but only fragile humans, who depend heavily on the healthy condition of their body. The condition of my body isn’t ideal either. The last few seasons I really didn't have luck with my health.
“Last year even my Olympic performance was threatened for a while due to a constant battle with knee problems. What is more, in 2005 I was chased out of track and field for almost 14 months because of a spine injury. This period was the lowest point of my career. Some promising, but not yet top results that I achieved until then meant that I was left with only very little sponsor support, a minimum of media and public attention, and a lack of self-confidence. I wouldn't have made it back without the strong and unselfish support of my team. And they were the ones that saved me again.
“So I just couldn't take such gloomy prediction of three months without training, so I paid a visit to my physiotherapist Khalid Nasif who has helped me many times before for a quicker recovery.
“With his patience and special techniques and ointments he uses, I was soon back on the way of recovery. After only 14 days of intense therapies I can say I'm almost as healthy as I was before. If there are no more surprises I hope to be able to return in the next few days to Medulin, the Croatian coastal town where for the past few years I have concluded my winter cycle of preparations.
“In the meantime I again lost a few kilograms, which is another never-ending battle for me. My body construction is not typical for my sport and I probably need to put more effort in gaining the optimal body mass than a lot of my colleagues do.
“But this is sport – a constant battle, a constant challenge. Exactly why I like it so much that I devoted my life to it.
“Lep pozdrav,”
Primož
