Sometimes you have to know how to listen to the head rather than the heart. Maude Charron agreed to be “wise” and to see the long term rather than the short term. Afflicted by a knee injury, the weightlifter will not participate in the World Championships next week.
The Rimouskoise has been dealing with tendonitis of the medial quadriceps for a few weeks now. His support team was wondering if it was a good idea to participate in the Worlds, which were fast approaching.
“It was a bit me who did not dare to dot the i’s, the bars on the t, she explained by videoconference, Friday morning. I wanted to keep letting myself believe that I could compete at the World Championships. »
Ultimately, she thought long-term rather than short-term. “The goal is the Paris Games next year. It’s not the Championships next week. »
She will still have to travel to Saudi Arabia next week, as it is a mandatory competition to be eligible for the Paris Olympics. She will weigh in, be registered, but not compete. “It’s hard on the ego and the motivation to go there knowing that I won’t be able to compete,” said the athlete.
Charron is already in the rehabilitation period – “it’s better, I’m still able to train more these days”, she notes. However, it is impossible for her to know exactly when she will be fully recovered.
“A tendon is not like a muscle. It will heal at its own speed. […] It goes from four to six weeks, it can take three months, it can take two years… I have even been told that it can take up to 500 days for a tendon to return to normal. We go day by day with what my knee allows me to do every day in training. »
The weightlifter remains convinced of taking part in the next Pan American Games in October. His priority, however, will be to participate in the Olympic qualifying competition which takes place in December, in Qatar.
“For Qatar, it is 100% sure that I will be cured, or at least everything will be under control. I will be able to do a good preparation to have a peak for this competition. »
In addition to the advice of doctors and physiotherapists, various factors facilitated the final decision. In particular its comfortable position in the world ranking (5th). To ensure a participation in the Paris Games, she must be in the top 10. This means that six opponents must pass her at the Worlds; it would take “extraordinary performance”.
“Maybe it will be beaten by one or two people, but I will stay in the top 10. I will still have two more big competitions to improve on that ranking. My place in Paris is not necessarily at stake.”
In the event that she is overtaken, she will be able to improve her score in Qatar.
Charron therefore continues to train, but his exercises have been adjusted to his condition.
“We work around. We try to improve especially my technique. Since I can’t load super heavy, it’s an opportunity for me and my coach to focus more on technique, to correct small technical faults that I had. We practice something else; shoulder stability and all. »
“But for a week or so, it’s really been better,” she says. My knee is on a nice progression curve, we’re starting to load a bit more, we’re doing a bit more squats, but my physios keep telling me: relax, take it easy, step by step, one step at a time so you don’t recreate a kind of inflammatory crisis. »
The watchword is therefore to give your tendon the time it needs.
“For the Tokyo Games, it was the pandemic. Now it will be a knee injury. I don’t know an athlete who has had perfect preparation for a competition, so that’s part of the game. »
