Ivet Lalova (BUL) wins the 200m (© Getty Images)
Nearly five months after breaking her leg in what witnesses described as a “horrendous” accident, Ivet Lalova, the equal-sixth quickest 100m sprinter of all-time, has confirmed that she's on a slow but steady road back.
“The rehab needs a lot of perseverance and endurance,” the 21-year-old Bulgarian sprinter said, "but for a person who is used to spending most of their time training, it becomes like a part of the training process."
In an awkward fall last June, Lalova, the only European woman to reach both Olympic sprint finals in Athens, broke her right femur while warming up prior to the Tsiklitiria Super Grand Prix in Athens. She immediately underwent surgery and began the slow rehabilitation process two weeks later.
“I had to wait two months before I could start walking,” said Lalova, adding that she began jogging just a few days ago. “I spent my summer at rehabilitation centres in Bulgaria and Germany. At the moment I’ve just returned from my last rehab programme in Germany. I spent six weeks there in all for a special rehabilitation that included a lot of treatments and preparation of the leg to return the muscles and the power, and then to proceed to training.”
Fast start to 2005
Prior to her injury, Lalova, then barely 21-years-old, was off to her fastest start ever. In her only indoor appearance, she won the European Indoor 200m title, and opened outdoors in late May with 11.04w/22.76 double win at the European Club Cup Championships. An 11.09 win at the national championships followed, before her 11.03 victory at the Golden Spike Super Grand Prix in Ostrava, the sixth fastest performance of the year. Considering the cold and rainy conditions in the Czech city that evening, in was a notable performance.
The double short dash winner at the 2003 European Junior Championships, Lalova burst into the athletics spotlight the following year after her blistering 10.77 national record win at the European Cup First League competition in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, to become the equal sixth fastest sprinter of all-time. It was a dash that knocked a massive quarter of a second from her previous best, the fastest in the world since 1999, and one that will certainly define the rest of her career. At the Olympic Games in Athens, she finished fourth in the 100m and fifth in the 200m.
"I don't want to push myself that hard"
Despite her serious setback this year, Lalova remains convinced that she is up to the task to return stronger and faster.
“Mentally I’m at least twice stronger than I am physically,” she said. “I’m trying to stay positive as always. Now I have the great possibility to realise the things that I am ready to do and how far I’m ready to go.”
Lalova didn't say what, if any, competitions are in her plans for 2006, but she did indicate that a very light competitive load will be most likely.
I’m trying not to think too much about the upcoming season," she said. "I don't want to push myself that hard, because my plans are to stay in athletics for many years to come. I can say that my priority is to be rehabilitated well, and then to return to the track.”
Not returning, she said, never crossed her mind.
"I think there are two options," she said. "To give up, or become stronger. I chose the second one."
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF