Dana Ellis seeks medical exemption

[rainbowgirl28]

An older article, but lots of interesting stuff

http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/athletics/st ... ellis.html

Canadian vaulter seeks medical exemption

Paul Gains CBC Sports
Dana Ellis, from Kitchener, Ont., runs down the track on her way to winning the women's pole vault final at the Canadian Track and Field championships in Victoria Friday, July 9, 2004. (CP PHOTO/Ryan Remiorz)
Canadian pole vault record holder Dana Ellis is the latest athlete to ask for a medical exemption from the upcoming Canadian Olympic trials scheduled at the University of Windsor, starting July 3.

Hurdler Perdita Felicien has made a similar request.

The 28-year-old Ellis has been plagued by injuries since she tied with Anna Rogowska for 6th place in the 2005 IAAF world championships in Helsinki, Finland. Rogowska won a bronze medal for Poland at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Ellis of Kitchener, Ont., finished 6th at the same event.

A partial tear of her Achilles tendon has restricted her training and she says she needs the time to rehabilitate to be in form at the Beijing Olympics.

Despite the injury, Ellis, who with her husband Russ Buller now resides in Lake Charles, La, jumped the Olympic A+ qualifying standard of 4.45m at a meet in Beaumont, Texas, on April 24 this year.

Prime form

However, this mark was achieved prior to May 15, the beginning of the Olympic qualifying period, and does not count towards her qualifying. The Canadian record jump of 4.52m from a year ago also doesn’t count. Athletics Canada wants to ensure athletes are in prime form at the time of the Games.

Ellis says she had been nursing tendonitis in her knee during the winter and rushed back into competition anxious to achieve the qualifying mark. She believes this led to the Achilles tendon injury. It’s the same tendon she injured while competing in gymnastics as a child.

“A month ago my right Achilles started getting a little achy. I backed off of the training but still was able to jump pretty well,” she explains. “I went to the Adidas Track Classic. I could barely make it down the runway. I ended up jumping pretty well regardless [5th with 4.32m]. After the meet I could barely walk.”

Ellis made several trips to the Toronto sports injuries clinic run by Dr. Tony Galea where it was determined she had small tears in the tendon as well as in her calf muscle.

“I could probably jump, if I really wanted to hurt myself and be ready for the Olympic trials, but I have been advised my doctors not to do that,” she reveals. “I ruptured this achilles as a gymnast. It’s fragile to begin with and it’s better to be full speed for the Olympics rather than full speed at the nationals. I am OK. I can train as specific as possible knowing I don’t have a lot of time to be prepared.”

Getting physiotherapy

Although the doctors have advised her to avoid ballistic exercises such as vaulting she is spending time on stationary bikes and elliptical trainers trying to mimic anaerobic conditions -- short bursts of intense activity -- that she will endure in competition. She is also receiving physiotherapy at various clinics in Toronto, Kitchener and Louisiana.

“I know that if given the proper amount of time to heal up and rehab properly, and not push things, that I can be ready because I have done it before,” she declares. “Last summer I tore my hamstring and was out for more than two months. I had three weeks of proper training prior to my breaking the Canadian record August 18. So I know if I am healthy and given the opportunity to train properly I can be ready at the right time because I proved that last year.”

Ellis is credited with the Canadian record but Saskatchewan’s Kelsie Hendry cleared 4.55m under controversial circumstances at the USATF high performance meet in Provo, Utah. She was the sole competitor in the event and though the mark is listed on the official IAAF world lists, Athletics Canada refuses to accept it as a record or as a qualifying mark for the Olympics.

“It’s hard for me to comment on that, and I am not trying to be politically correct,” Ellis says. “I don’t know what went on that meet. One thing I know is she is capable of 4.55m. She is very talented and she has already jumped 4.45m and 4.46m prior to that 4.55m.”

Tricky technical event

Coincidentally, Ellis had concerns about the number of entries in the meet in Chula Vista, Calif., the day she set her Canadian record. Several women vaulters had pulled out at the last minute and she and her coach had to recruit collegiate athletes to fill out the field.

“I would love for Kelsie and I to be in Beijing together,” Ellis says. “In the pole vault it is so key to have that support out there. It’s such a tricky technical event and at the Olympics you never know if the coach will get a seat in the area near the pole vault. You need somebody there to check our steps or to say the pole is too small. Just for that support and extra confidence, I think it totally helps to have a teammate there. I would love for the two of us to go together. It would be amazing.”

Ellis plans on attending the Olympic trials to support athletes such as Hendry, knowing her fate lies in the hands of a committee chaired by Athletics Canada’s Chief High Performance Officer Martin Goulet. After hearing from Chief Medical Officer Dr. Alan Vernec, the committee will announce its decision “as soon as possible,” according to Goulet.

Ellis believes she deserves the exemption.

“I am not interested in just making the Olympic team for the sake of making the team, I want to go there and make the final and do well,” she says of her request. “I think I have proven myself as a championship performer with my 6th place finish in Athens and then 6th in Helsinki world championships the next year.”

Along with fellow-vaulter Hendry, there is another vaulter Ellis would like see competing in Beijing. Her husband Russ Buller will try to make the U.S. Olympic team.

[decanuck]

Ironic that husband and wife are hurt and on the fence--Dana by needing a trials exemption and Russ by being an alternate. Good luck to both of them in their recovery and selection.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://news.therecord.com/Sports/article/379578

Olympic hopefuls get reprieve

Six athletes, including locals Kunkel, Brannen and Ellis, given deadline extensions to qualify for Beijing
July 08, 2008
JOSH BROWN
RECORD STAFF


Six athletes hoping to qualify for the Beijing Summer Olympics were officially granted an extension yesterday by Athletics Canada to make the national track and field team.

Cambridge middle-distance runner Nate Brannen, Kitchener pole vaulter Dana Ellis, Paisley hurdler Adam Kunkel, Pickering hurdler Perdita Felicien and 1,500-metre runners Malindi Elmore of Calgary and Sarnia's Hilary Stellingwerff will get extra time to qualify for the Games.

All six must reach the required selection criteria in their events by July 22 to make the team headed to China in August.

Ellis missed the trials because of an Achilles tendon injury. She has spent the past month or so recovering and must vault 4.45 metres twice or 4.54 metres once to make it to her second consecutive Olympics. Ellis was sixth in the pole vault in Athens four years ago. The Grand River Collegiate graduate hopes to hit the standard at a trio of meets in Europe in the next couple of weeks.

[annagb]

Do you know where in Europe?
I remember that she competed in Italy few years ago...

[annagb]

I found a partial answer. It seems that tomorrow she will compete in Italy, more precisely in Lignano (near here), where I saw her few years ago.

[rainbowgirl28]

Poor Russ and Dana...

http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/athletics/st ... tions.html

Former Canadian pole vault record-holder Dana Ellis, of Kitchener, Ont., has decided to call it quits for the season. A nagging Achilles tendon prevented her from jumping in the trials and the following week she tore a hamstring.

"Unfortunately the old body is feeling too beat up and tired to continue this season," she said. "I gave it my best shot, but my injuries have been like a domino effect this year. My focus now is to spend the rest of the summer healing up to prepare for next season."

[rainbowgirl28]

http://news.therecord.com/News/CanadaWo ... cle/383475

Not this time

Injuries dash Olympic hopes for Dana Ellis of Kitchener and Perdita Felicien
July 15, 2008
JOSH BROWN
RECORD STAFF; WITH FILES FROM THE CANADIAN PRESS
KITCHENER

Dana Ellis will not compete at the Beijing Olympics. Injuries have forced the Kitchener pole vaulter to ditch her attempt at qualifying for the Summer Games.

"I'm really disappointed because the Olympics is huge," Ellis said when reached in Kitchener. "It's the be-all and end-all of amateur sports. It's what we look forward to every four years and what we train hard for and put all our time, energy, passion and drive into.

"To have it taken away because of things that are kind of out of my control . . . that's the most difficult part. If I wouldn't have worked so hard and I had some excuses it would be easier to swallow. I just feel like I couldn't catch a break."

She's not the only high profile athlete sidelined with injuries. Yesterday, The Canadian Press reported hurdler Perdita Felicien is also out for Beijing. Like Ellis, Felicien had been granted an extension to qualify in the women's 100-metre hurdles, but a foot injury has kept her off the track since February.

Felicien, of Pickering, is holding a press conference today to discuss her immediate future in the sport.

Ellis missed most of the past two months with an Achilles injury and did not compete at the recent Canadian Olympic trials in Windsor. But Athletics Canada gave the 28-year-old a medical exemption and additional time to meet the standards necessary to qualify for the Summer Games.

Ellis was feeling better and was getting ready to head to Europe for a trio of meets when doctors found a tear in her hamstring. That ended her season.

She's not the only high profile athlete sidelined with injuries. Yesterday, the Canadian Press reported that hurdler Perdita Felicien is also out for Beijing. Like Ellis, Felicien had been granted an extension to achieve the qualifying standard in the women's 100-metre hurdles. But a foot injury has kept her off the track since this past February.

Ellis is taking the bad news in stride.

"There are definitely worse things that could happen and there are people in this world in worse situations than me just missing the Olympics," she said.

"Thank God for Athens, that's all I can say. I think I would be much more devastated if I hadn't had the experience that I did in Athens, which was wonderful and more than I could ever ask for."

Ellis finished sixth in the women's pole vault at the 2004 Games in Greece.

The former Grand River Collegiate student had talked about retirement but is now re-evaluating her decision.

For now, she'll take the much needed rest and fully recover from her injuries. Next winter, she plans to get back on the pole vaulting circuit.

She still owns the Canadian record at 4.52 metres and would like to better her mark. There's also the world championships next year in Berlin, Germany. After that, who knows? She'll only be 32-years-old when the 2012 Summer Olympics hit London, England.

"I definitely haven't written 2012 off. Sometimes athletes get better with age. If I can get healthy and I'm still improving, then why not?"