Jan Hudec's longtime physio talks about the medical marvel

Jan Hudec’s battle through six knee surgeries and back woes to win his second World Cup downhill victory in Chamonix, France, on the weekend is an incredible feat.

Among those who really understand what he's been through is former alpine team physiotherapist Kent Kobelka, who helped the Calgary skier through 1,500 days in rehab, give or take a few hundred. (We'll excuse Kobelka for not having an exact count)

We caught up this week with Kobelka, whose duties now include medical coordinator for Hockey Canada, rehab therapist for the Calgary Flames as well as working with Olympic athletes through the Canadian Sports Centre in Calgary (Guess he needed all those jobs to match the workload he had with Hudec.)

“I’m not at all surprised he’s back where he is,” said Kobelka. “He’s such an unbelievable talent. When he gets healthy and he gets some confidence, he is one of the best. I know a lot of people would say ‘Oh, it’s been a long road,’ but when you see what this kid has been through in his life and the things he’s come back from, it’s probably not that big of a surprise.”

Kobelka points out that Hudec has to walk a tightrope that most of his peers don’t.

“It’s hard because this is a guy who can’t do the high volume of training a healthy person can do because his body can’t take it. But he’s also a mature athlete that he’s been through the grind a little bit to say ‘Okay, I know what I need to do and how I need to feel to be prepared to race.’”

Kobelka was there with Hudec through his six knee surgeries, five of them ACLs.

“It was a roller coaster. The one thing I think always pulled him through is every time he came back from an injury, there was a greater success. He had his first win, he injured himself, he then came back and was able to get second in the world championships … Through every injury, he was able to come back and be a little bit better or have a better race.

“I remember at the world championships in Val d’Isere after he blew his knee that race, he called and the first thing out of his mouth wasn’t ‘I’m done.’ It was ‘I’m committed to getting back and I want to do it again.’ That’s not an easy thing. There’s a lot of different people’s opinions out there that would say ‘Should he even be skiing with all these injuries?’”

Kobelka said it’ll be important for Hudec to get through this season in one piece and do the all the little things necessary to stay on top of his issues, something he hasn’t excelled at in the past.

“As far as the back goes, he has bulging disks. When you bend over and everything you do is in a flex position, skiing, sitting, travelling, everything else, I don’t think any of the guys have good backs. Think of being in a crouch position for everything you do. It’s not a very functional position to be in. His back is always going to be an issue. I’m sure he spends a lot time with (team physiotherapist) Julie Harvey on the road.

“His knees, six surgeries, there’s osteoarthritis being built up, cartilage has obviously been affected. In the future, his knees are not going to be probably his most favorable thing. He is probably more poised to have a knee replacement than someone who hasn’t had six surgeries.”

Hudec and Kobelka exchanged messages after his big win.

“There isn’t a nicer guy in the world. He’ll take the time to talk to anyone. It’s just nice to see a good guy get on the top.

(Photos by PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP/Getty Images)

Here's a pic of the 1-3-5 trio of Hudec (R), Erik Guay (plaid), and Ben Thomsen. What a showing!

High school track stars being offered whole new challenge

For a high school track field star in the GTA, the pinnacle has always been OFSAA.

“It’s like the Olympics in high school,” said national team hurdler Phylicia George (middle).

Well, there’s a new kid in town.

Plans were unveiled Monday for the top 312 track and field athletes across Canada to compete on May 12 at Varsity Stadium in the Nike High School Grand Prix.

George helped kick off the event at a news conference with fellow hurdlers Olympic bronze medallist Priscilla-Lopes Schliep, coming back from having a baby, and 2003 world champion Perdita Felicien.

It’s an opportunity Felicien wishes she had as a high schooler.

“I think it will be a great testing ground for athletes,” she said. “Sometimes, you find in high school you’re the biggest fish in the pond. So to kind of expand that pond to go into a bigger pool will be exciting for the athletes to see what they can do against the rest of the athletes in the country.”

Lopes-Schliep said she went to a similar meet in the U.S. when she was in high school and found the challenge of racing against the best helped shape her as a competitor.

“The love for sport and the drive to get better, to push yourself to strive to go after records was very neat because I went out and I was able to break a record there,” she said. “And then to see that this is coming to Canadian soil is just one of the best things we could be doing. It’s going to better the sport, it’s going to better our kids, it’s going to better everything all around in Canada.”

University of Toronto track and field head coach Carl Georgevski believes it will not only help promote the sport, but that it can be a means of unearthing the “diamonds in the rough that are out there in Canada.”

Nike is teaming with School Sport Canada and the integrated marketing agency TrojanOne for the event. The 312 athletes will be culled from 200,000 high school track and field athletes from across Canada.

“I think having something where it’s the whole country, it’s not just the whole province, it creates a new rivalry,” said George.

“I think OFSAA was the first time you really get to see what fast is. Sometimes when you’re just competing locally, you really don’t understand that. And then you step out and you realize ‘Whoa, there are people that are really talented.’ I think it also encourages you to want to train harder.”

Felicien has one suggestion for the organizers, though.

“I want them to actually have a masters category in this meet. Why not? Relive the golden days.”

(Video and photo by the esteemed Richard Lautens. L to R: Felicien, George and Lopes-Schliep)

Inside the Roller Coaster World of an Elite Speed Skater

(As anyone regular reader of this blog knows, Canada’s Olympians are a pretty rare breed. Many of them are also very descriptive writers. One of those is speed skater Anastasia Bucsis, who allows us here to share the email she sent today to some supporters after having to pull out last week of the world sprint championships in Calgary at the last second because of a back injury. This gives you some insight into the roller coaster life these athletes sometimes lead.)

Here’s the email:

Hey guys!

Sorry that this has taken me so long to respond, (and in a mass message) but I've just received so many positives notes/messages that I'd never get the time to respond to all of them!

Yes,... so this past weekend was definitely a game changer in my career. I am sure all of you have heard to some extent what I did... just slightly herniated my L4-L5 disk in my lower back (while putting on my skin suit- something I do at least twice a day, every day!) which then started to touch all of the nerves in my lower back...

I instantly started to go into spasms... got about twenty minutes of treatment done, tried to get on ice... skated one lap, and knew that something was dreadfully wrong. My legs were useless... my knees were buckling with pain and I couldn't bend over to save my life, (which, I've heard, is an important part of speed skating...).

So with that being said, without ever having a serious back problem, I was sidelined and forced to watch a World Championships in my own City, after being so incredibly excited and probably skating the best I ever have. I am never one to really elaborate on how well I feel on ice- but I'm not going to lie, I basically felt better than I ever have. Calm, confident, focused, excited... I was just being a kid and having fun.

I cried for 48 hours straight, but I was also humbled and inspired by the kindness of strangers and the goodness of humanity (does that sound kind of corny? It's true.) I was so touched by how many of my friends/teammates/competitors/coaches/international coaches/physios/parents/strangers...etc... came up to me with tears in THEIR eyes and expressed their well wishes. It was just such an incredibly emotional weekend... it left me drained of energy, but also incredibly inspired.

I've got 4 weeks until I am over in Europe again... trying to recover and then build up my fitness for a few more world cups and World Championships at the end of March. I am keeping positive and listening to my body- but patience is definitely a virtue in this situation... all I want to do is put on my skates and train. I have definitely learnt that the old saying, "you never know what you've got until it's gone" is 100000000% true. But I've also learnt to trust God and that everything happens for a reason... I've just got to keep positive and believe that this happened at this time in my life/career for bigger and better things to come.

Anyways!

Thanks for all of your kind words/prayers!

Hope to be back skating in no time... bigger and better :)

Anastasia

(The photo is of Bucsis racing in the 500 metres at the Vancouver Olympics. It was taken by the Star’s Richard Lautens, great photog and helluva guy)