Rachel Atherton has just announced she will not be racing at the Les Gets World Cup after suffering a ruptured achilles tendon in training.
Rachel landed heavily on the flat drop towards the bottom of the course has confirmed she is already on her way home to get it checked out. Rachel has been flying this season with two wins on the new Atherton downhill bike as she chased down Anne Caroline Chausson's all-time record. She will no doubt be gutted she won't be able to try for another on the track she won on in Crankworx last year.
 | Devastated to say that as I landed super heavy on the last flat jump I had a huge insanely painful ankle and felt so disgustingly strange. Apparently I have ruptured my Achilles’ tendon... Absolutely Devastated. Not sure what’s going to happen but I’ll be going home tomorrow to get sorted out, just so gutted & upset. Sorry to everyone & thanks to everyone.—Rachel Atherton |
We're wishing Rachel all the best in her recovery. There's no word on how long Rachel will be out for yet but we hope to see her back on the bike soon.
More follows.
An interesting article for those who like the supremely nerdy things in life....
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28644678
Good luck and good health to Rachel
Healing vibes to Rachel, doesn't sound good.
Gutted for Rachel. I'm sure she will be back but it will take some time before she is back on form
Best for a quick recovery, Rachel—you’ll be back and stronger than ever!!!
CONCLUSION:
An Achilles tendon rupture is a devastating injury that prevents RTP for 30.6% of professional players. Athletes who do return play in fewer games, have less play time, and perform at a lower level than their preinjury status. However, these functional deficits are seen only at 1 year after surgery compared with matched controls, such that players who return to play can expect to perform at a level commensurate with uninjured controls 2 years postoperatively.
Except Bruni, They were all harshly bottoming and lots of the riders where not clearing it.
The track looks really fast but Les Gets f*cked again to do the things properly. You just have to see that giant piece of metal found during the trackwalk. As a french and almost a local, I can only say how much I'm not surprise..
Don't complain...just let the race play out.
Downhill might be one area where an athlete could come back. Usually the issue is lost explosiveness, but that would seem less of an issue with downhill (esp. with foot placement relative to Achilles extension) than something like basketball. Rachel's so good that even if she were to lose a (subastantial) second on the pedal out of the gate, she can still be competitive for the win.
Good time for a little Atherton ???? or more effort for the success of their company or whatever, one door closes another one opens. She has won everything and can do whatever makes her happy!
Get well soon
Freak...freak athlete.
www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2166378
I thought my rupture was due to staying clipped a bit too long, or badly placing the foot - doc said it wasn't my case - as I went over the bars and just as I was putting the foot down, brain realized there was no floor and reacted to compensate and it was the muscle pulling that ruptured it - he said that baby-elephant calves and adrenalin must have played it's part, specially because I didn't feel a thing, got up, picked my bike and was ready to go - when i rested my foot on the pedal I start realizing something was sorta wrong...
Anyways, everything done by the book, eat properly, sleep a ton, the moment the cast was out did thousands of reps to get me back on the bike... doc said 1 year to recover... but I had MTB trips booked... couldn't do 1 year... had to be back in 6 months.... hehehehe...
No-one can know how bad it will be for Rach except those who've taken scans/ done her observations. Speculation is part of our nature but all we can really do is send her our best wishes and healing vibes.
1) She's light. Comparing Rachel to an NFL or NBA player isn't really apples to apples. This will help the healing process.
2) Despite this injury occuring on a bike, bikes aren't inherently hard on this tendon the way cutting/sprinting/basketball/football is.
3) She's got the boys and girls at Red Bull behind her. This is a big asset when it comes to injury.
She'll be back. Probably with some gnarly footwear to go with it. But she'll be back. First world cup or bust.
Btw, pretty sure "Achilles" has 2 LL's in it...#spellinggestapo
... i'm 100% sure you'll ace the recovery... . sending healing vibes - get well soon !
I ruptured my spleen in the 80's, and broke my tib/fib six years ago. IMO both are much worse injuries.
Again, best wishes to Rachel for a full and speedy recovery.
Heal up girl and see you back on the mountain soon!
Get well soon Rachel
That's a better comment than all of those by the doctors in here.
Who knew pB had so many users that are medical professionals.