Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce must be patient in regaining Olympic form
Strong coaching, medical team critical for Jamaican sprinter
This is the third in a series of four articles from Donovan Bailey, looking ahead to various Diamond League meets and the Olympics. Previously, Donovan discussed the rivalry between sprinters Justin Gatlin and Usain Bolt and a Rio outlook for Canadian high jumper Derek Drouin.
It's exciting that Rabat, Morocco, became the first African city on Sunday to host a Diamond League meet but disappointing that Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce wasn't near the track as she continues to recover from a reported toe injury.
I'm sure the two-time defending Olympic sprint champion in the 100 metres can't go through practice at the velocity that she wants to. It's a big year for Shelly-Ann. She's 29 but a veteran sprinter, really.
She knows the importance of the Olympics in Rio, her legacy, and that she wants to get healthy for it. I ran with a torn adductor muscle at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, so I understand. You have to make sure you're getting the greatest therapy that you can, be patient, and bring yourself back to pre-injury form slowly.
Three weeks before the '96 Olympics I ran the Grand Prix race in Nice, France, my last race before the Games. Olympic champion Linford Christie got out the blocks on me. I caught him and won but made a technical mistake by over striding at the 95-metre mark, creating the tear.
After I returned to my training base in Texas and I couldn't walk for a couple of days, I thought things weren't good, but I never thought that I wouldn't race in the Olympics. My paranoia was that I wouldn't have enough time to get back on the track and do the speed work I usually did entering a major championship. I did not get on the track for five days.
I was confident in Dan Pfaff's ability to be a coach and Dr. Mark Lindsay's knowledge of soft tissue, plus his knowledge of the body to help me heal and get ready for the Games, so it was me that had to dial it back and understand everything was going to be OK.
Nagging injuries
I know Shelly-Ann's coach, Stephen Francis. Whatever nagging injuries any of his athletes have had at this level he's always got them ready for major championships.
Right now, Shelly-Ann is thinking about the next day she can get on the track and get a really good training session and not feel pain. Once she does that, the rest of her body should be in pre-injury form.
She knows her body well, believes and trusts her coach – based on her fantastic athletic resume – and she either has great medical people on hand or access to some. When you talk about any injuries in your joints, tendons, and nerve endings, they are very difficult to treat, so most times you are training through pain.
I tore my left quad muscle. That took quite a while to heal, and also had several hamstring injuries as well as a ruptured Achilles' tendon. It was a constant battle for me to deal with pain. It becomes part of athletics, part of life.
Ultimately, we're all going to go through adversity on the way to any goals we have. Whatever it is, you're going to get slowed down by something or someone.
The lesson I learned over the years is whatever you're pursuing, there will be obstacles and that success is the greatest revenge.
Donovan Bailey is a two-time Olympic gold medallist and once held the world record for the 100 at 9.84 seconds.