Last year, a concussion hampered Hannah Rolfe’s track and field season.
Injured in the spring, the Langley teen didn’t get the go-ahead to resume training until the week before the Canadian Legion track and field championships.
The lack of preparation didn’t seem to hurt as she responded by winning the gold medal in the high jump with a personal best leap of 1.67m.
Rolfe is hoping history repeats itself as she gears up for this weekend’s Canadian Legion track and field championships as once again, she finds herself recovering from an injury that has hindered her preparation.
The meet, which is being held at Langley’s McLeod Athletic Park for the second consecutive season, runs from Friday (tomorrow) to Sunday (Aug. 17).
“Last year was the concussion, this year I have had back-to-back hamstring injuries and I just got cleared,” Rolfe said.
The 16-year-old suffered a micro-tear in her hamstring back in February and March. After a few months of diligent rehabilitation, she began training again, only to suffer another tear in the same one.
“I just felt this massive rip,” she said.
The injury halted her season once again — it was the second straight year she missed the bulk of the high school track and field season — before she was given the green light to resume training earlier this month.
“It has been really trying, frustrating as well,” she admitted.
Rolfe has tried to stay positive and avoid the ‘why me’ phase, but knows that can be challenging.
“I am a realist; I have high hopes and expectations for myself and when I don’t surpass them or even meet them within a required time, it is frustrating obviously,” she said.
The one silver lining she could find was the fact the injuries occurred relatively early in her high school career, rather than her Grade 12 season. Rolfe is entering Grade 11 at Walnut Grove Secondary and she has aspirations of earning herself a college scholarship in track and field.
Not bad considering that when she first tried the sport about six or seven years ago, she did so reluctantly.
Up until that point, Rolfe was primarily a ringette player.
“I wasn’t interested in venturing out to something new but I am so glad I did,” she said.
“I loved it right away.”
In addition to the high jump, Rolfe runs the 100m, although she has put that event on hold this season because of her hamstring issues.
Going into the Legion championships, Rolfe is hoping to at least match her personal best in the event, which she set at last year’s Games when she won gold.
