Injury Time Out for Olympic Diver Krysta Palmer
Surgery is usually a last resort and is never ideal, particularly when you’re an Olympian training for peak performance. Krysta Palmer, one of our Olympic medalists from the Tokyo Games, has finally bit the bullet having recently undergone arthroscopic hip surgery. Her ongoing struggle with pain while training and competing is hopefully a thing of the past, so she can get back at it for the 2024 Olympic cycle.
Training with this injury since 2020 and through the 2021 Olympic Games, the 29-year-old F-Teamer from the United States showed that through grit and perseverance you can truly achieve what you put your mind to. “Leading into the Olympic Games, I was limited in how many springboard hurdles I could do. It led me to train for quality rather than quantity. In Tokyo, I was managing my pain through the use of KT Tape, hot and cold tub, foam rolling, soft tissue work, and anti-inflammatories,” she said.
Like most elite athletes, stubbornness is what separates them from the rest. That relentless will to train and outperform their rivals helps them to tap into that extra edge, and this has made the decision to undergo surgery a tough one. “It was a tough decision, but taking time off after Tokyo proved to me that I needed the surgery because the pain I was experiencing did not diminish after taking a rest away from my sport. I exhausted all of my options and nothing improved my injury.”
Although it has been a challenging process, the notion of “training smarter, not harder” has enabled Krysta to acknowledge the importance of rehab and recovering mentally from the rigours of training, competition and, now, surgery.
A testament to the hard worker she is, rehab began the day of surgery. “They brought a stationary bike to my hospital room and I rode the bike for 20 minutes. After a night spent at the hospital, I woke up and went straight to my first physical therapy appointment. I have done a substantial amount of aquatics therapy, which began 2 days following my surgery. Other rehab consists of soft tissue work, eccentric exercises, blood flow restriction, cycling, and basic weight training.”
The Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist in the 3m individual springboard underwent surgery on March 3, and has been out of the water since the beginning of 2022. The goalposts haven’t changed at all for Palmer in her long-term quest to become a dual Olympian and win more medals at the highest level. We wish her all the best for the remainder of her rehab and transition back to training.
Stay up to date with Krysta's recovery via her socials @krystapalmer.