Tom Liebscher injured himself while rafting. Slowly he fought his way back.
Dresden – 60 training units in three weeks, paddling 400 kilometers: Olympic champion Tom Liebscher (27) has been back at home from the training camp in Belek, Turkey, since Wednesday Dresden and glad to be able to draw a positive conclusion. Because the 27-year-old’s career hung by a thread!
–
Tom Liebscher, here during training in 2019 on the Elbe, fought his way back after an injury. © Robert Michael / dpa-Zentralbild / ZB
“I had a five-fold fracture of the vertebral process,” Liebscher let the cat out of the bag on Thursday. “This happened at the end of October during team building in the Allgäu with the national team. We went rafting, and I fell off the boat and with my back on a stone.”
The seven-time world champion now has something in common with the Brazilian soccer superstar Neymar – because he suffered such an injury in the 2016 World Cup quarter-finals against Colombia, and then even sat in a wheelchair for a while.
“The transverse processes are there to hold the muscles that bend the hips and straighten the trunk,” explains Prof. Dr. med. Alexander Carl Disch from the Dresden University Clinic.
–
“An injury is so painful that you are paralyzed for six to eight weeks.” But Liebscher bit his teeth and began to fight back early: “I set myself small goals. It started with putting my socks back on by myself. In the end I wanted to be back in the boat for Christmas.” This succeeded, and nothing stands in the way of preparations for the Olympic Games in Tokyo (August).
The weeks until then were tough. “In the beginning I did shed a tear because I didn’t know what this fracture of the vertebral process meant,” admits the powerhouse.
“I took more composure from it. This injury showed that you can’t influence everything and should concentrate on yourself.”
–
