This article is based on interview by Teruo Shiga, reporter of NHK Osaka, who has been following Daisuke Takahashi. In this article you can find:
1. Some detailed information about surgery
2. How he started on-ice training
3. Why Daisuke is so confident now
4. What he is looking at next
Sorry for my poor English in advance....
Sorry if somebody else is working on translation now...
Original web site:
https://pid.nhk.or.jp/netstera/interview/interview014/interview014.htmlDAISUKE TAKAHASHI
“Road” to comebackBiggest crisis in his life
Right knee injuryIt was the biggest crisis in his skating career. “Partial torn of anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus injury”. Last October, upon landing Triple Axel (3 and a half rotation jump), he twisted his right knee and it caused the injuries. It was almost “complete tear of ACL” in that most of ligament fibers did not stay connected. But it did not faze Takahashi.
“You never win Olympic when you don’t fight with your 100%. I chose surgery because I’d like to win medal with my 100%”Under general anesthesia, a surgery called “Double-bundle ACL reconstruction” was performed; they transplant tendon from his upper leg and use it to reconstruct ACL. He started rehab 2 days after the surgery and it lasted for 4 months till resuming on-ice training in April. After a long absence, he recovered well and now he can jump Triple Axel which had caused the injury.
“In the beginning, I was scared, but when I landed (Triple Axel), it was better than I had imagined. Now I practice jumps more frequently and my boots get worn out fast, so I put on boots which have same stiffness with previous ones I put on before the injury. I worry about my knee not too often now”Confusion in his mind
“Another self thought it wouldn’t work”Takahashi shared his “confusion in his mind” with me past February. He said he had not been able to concentrate on skate because he did not know what to do next while Vancouver Olympic was approaching.
“I found myself wavering over what to do. I worried too much and was tired. I knew I had to do something… but another self thought it wouldn’t work”While he was away from skate and threw himself into rehab, such feeling was gone without knowing, he recalled. He lived on his own about for 3 months in Kyoto, near hospital, to devote himself into rehab.
“Injury made me focus on what I should do. I realized I have kept skating because I want to do. I don’t think the injury is tribulation. It made me recognize a change of myself and I could change my way of thinking. So, this injury is a chance”I’d like to get ready for quadruple jump before competitionsHe worked on “body modification” while he was regaining his muscles during the rehab. He focused on improving flexibility of lower body including hip joints and ankles. It helps to decrease impact to his knee when he lands jumps so that he would not repeat same injury. It also helps to shore up his weakness, limited flexibility as a skater.
“I obtained a new body, new legs. Muscles were developed in different way and I felt different when I returned to the ice. I believe I can perform better than before”Two days before resuming on-ice training, he had a dream of skating at rink. He said he skated smoothly there without a problem.
In the evening of April 4th, Takahashi stepped on the ice, being watched over by his physical therapist who had coached him for rehab, trainers and Nagamitsu.
“I was not afraid of skating, but I didn’t want (ligament) torn again. If it happened, my journey to Olympic would be over—I had such fear”He began with basic skating training. In the beginning, he mainly skated straight. Then he put more pressure on his knee little by little and added more complex movements like turns and spins. The effect of body modification was immediately visible.
“Strokes grow, speed was increased. I can keep low position and skate on deep edge for longer time. As to spin, motion range of hip joint was increased, rotation is faster, positions are more beautiful”It also brought unexpected gap in feeling of skate.
“Because of improved motion range of hip joint, my body moved more than I expected and I could not move fast. At first, I got flustered when my steps could not follow the music at all”He said he needs to control lean and speed consciously because his body moves more than he expects. But he has a feeling that there are possibilities for even more improvements in this change. Improved flexibility made it possible to skate slow which he was not good at. It also added “softness” in his skating.
“With this new body, I am confident to perform better than I did last year. Now I can do it easier, bigger and have room to breathe. I’d like to be back to normal by competitions so that I am ready for quadruple jump and perform all the elements perfectly”Takahashi overcame the injury, and what he sees next…For the Olympic season, he decided to skate programs which he could not perform last season for the injury. Especially, “Road (La Strada)”, his free program, has never been performed in public yet. He will skate to the theme music of Italian masterpiece, and with emotional richness, he will express people who are poor but live strong. Nagamitsu, his coach, said “This program is deserved to be performed by Takahashi who shook off confusion in his mind and overcame hardship of severe injury”
In mid July, Takahashi joined camp in Detroit, USA. He switched his training from recovery from injury to “preparation to win Olympic”.
“As a challenger for medal, I will compete each competition seriously. I don’t know if I can win gold medal or not until I come to Olympic. But I will try it with a determination to win it”Takahashi made the injury as an opportunity to obtain stronger heart and body. He started running his “Road (La Strada)” to the top of the Olympic.
(End)
The article is rather lengthy and in-depth. 
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