Gymnast Kate Richardson, who will be the only senior on the UCLA
squad this season, is still healing from a non-displaced fractured
left tibia at the knee joint, which she suffered on Sept. 16 while
vaulting in practice.
Richardson, whose coaches were attempting to increase her runway
speed, was sprinting down the vault runway when she tripped after
turning her foot, barreling into the metal base of the vault.
The sight was so horrific that coaches and teammates expected a
much worse outcome than a four-to-six-week absence.
“Her little body turned into a bowling ball,” coach
Valorie Kondos Field said. “She slammed into the base and
ended up as a crumpled ball. We’re very lucky to just have
her get away with only a tibia fracture.”
Richardson’s left leg was placed in a brace, keeping her
from practicing for the past six weeks. During that time, the 2003
NCAA bars and beam champion has been in the gym doing strength and
conditioning exercises for three hours, while her teammates
practice on the floor until she is joined for a final hour of
strengthening by her teammates.
Richardson said that her leg has not been hurting her for the
past couple of weeks and was cleared by doctors Monday night to
practice bars over the pit and begin tumbling. Kondos Field hopes
to add slow-landing programs and small jump-offs to slowly bring
the leg back to full strength, though she knows that simply because
the bone has healed doesn’t mean it is ready for intensive
exercises.
“Kate is the queen of comebacks,” Kondos Field said.
“She’s better when she has a hurdle to overcome. She
has a strong mind, and she has gotten through worse falls in her
past.”
Though neither the coaching staff nor Richardson herself are
sure whether she will be ready for the opening meets of the season,
Kondos Field is encouraged by what she has seen from the 2004
Olympian in the past.
“She came to UCLA while she was recovering from back
surgery, and the doctors told her she might only be able to compete
in one event at the first meet,” Kondos Field said.
“Not only did she compete in all four events, but she won the
all-around competition. She is an animal.”
Still, there is no doubt the injury has left Richardson behind
in relation to her teammates, and it seems a stretch that she will
be ready to open the season with the rest of the team.
“I will be ready by February at the latest,”
Richardson said. “The end of the season is the only part that
counts, and I’ll be at full strength for that.”