The MRI I took yesterday told me that I tore my ACL after the high bar landing at the Japan Cup.  Right now we’re in the process of scheduling a day to get it surgically repaired (hopefully sometime next week).  While I’m definitely bummed about getting hurt, I’ve never thought to myself that going through all the injuries is not worth it.  Gymnastics is a constant battle between pain and injuries and I do this sport because of that drive I have inside me to one day make the Olympic team.

For some reason, I see this injury as an opportunity in disguise.  Yes, it’ll take hours upon hours of rehab, but at the same time, I’ll be able to put a lot of focus on strengthening my upper-body.   My leg injury will also give me some time to go back to square one and fix all the basics that I haven’t been able to work on in a while.  If this injury thinks it can hold me back, I’ll prove it wrong because I haven’t been this fired up about training in a while.  In the long run, I have a feeling that this injury is going to make me a better gymnast.  I’ll come out of this thing stronger than before.

I can name many gymnasts who have gotten stronger after coming back from a similar injury.  Good friends of mine like Jason Gatson and Justin Spring rebounded back and made the Olympics in the end.  I’ve also talked to another good friend,  Hisashi Mizutori (Olympic gold medalist from Japan) who told me that he tore his ACL a year and a half before the Athens Games.  He said he used his rehab period to strengthen his ring set, an event that was by far his worst event prior to the injury.  However, he had gotten so strong by the end that  he was picked to do the rings during the team competition at the Olympics.    That said, I’m really looking forward to take what happened and turn it into a positive thing!  Keep checking back in to see my progress.

Justin Spring's come back after knee injury in 2007

My friend, Hisashi, who made the Olympics after his ACL injury