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"It was very painful emotionally and physically...hardest thing I have ever done" - Anna Hall on recovering from knee injury before Paris Olympics
American heptathlon prodigy Anna Hall recently opened up on her knee injury that prevented her from sustaining the momentum she has been carrying over the last two years. She recovered from the injury and made her Olympics debut this year in Paris.
The 23-year-old has had a tough history with injuries, particularly around the Olympic Games. In 2021, she suffered a devastating injury during the US Olympic Trials, colliding with the eighth hurdle in the 100m hurdles and fracturing her left foot's navicular bone. This injury jeopardized her chances of competing in the Tokyo Olympics.
Despite these setbacks, she made a remarkable comeback and delivered a performance of a lifetime during the 2023 season, where she shattered the North American pentathlon record with 5004 points at the U.S. Indoor Championships. Hall capped off the season with a silver medal in the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships.
However, she once again faced adversity this year when a knee injury in January required surgery. Hall described her journey through the injury as both physically and mentally demanding.
"It was very painful emotionally and physically, she said. I was in pain a lot of days at practice trying things that I didn’t want to do, but doctors said, ‘If you want to push, this is what we’re doing.’ Emotionally, that’s super, super humbling," she said. (via World Athletics)
The first few days trying to high jump again, I couldn’t do a single-leg hop and I’m like, how am I supposed to jump 1.85m in six weeks? It was definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done," she added
"Anna Hall needs to stay healthy" - Daley Thompson optimistic about heptathlete's success at the 2028 LA Olympics
Despite her setbacks, Anna Hall has received support from legendary Olympic champions like Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Daley Thompson. Thompson emphasized that Hall needs to enjoy her journey while prioritizing her health.
"Anna needs to stay healthy, and above all she needs to keep on enjoying what she’s doing. It won’t always be a straightforward case that she’s going to get faster, that she’s going to get stronger. All of that stuff takes time the further up the mountain you go. Thompson said
He added:
She’s near enough to the top as it is, and she just needs to have one or two different plans on how to get to the top because sometimes you do a bunch of stuff, it doesn’t work."
Currently ranked fifth in the all-time heptathlon rankings with a score of 6988 points, Hall trails only Larisa Nikitina (7007), Nafissatou Thiam (7013), Carolina Kluft (7032), and Jackie Joyner-Kersee (7291).
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