04.04.2007

Martin looks beyond injury

Almost four weeks after surgery to repair a major ligament in his foot, Commonwealth Games gold medallist Scott Martin’s rehabilitation is well underway with his sights firmly fixed on the road to Osaka.

The conclusion to the 24 year-old’s domestic season was dealt a cruel blow when, after throwing over 20 metres at both the Graeme Briggs Memorial Track Classic in Hobart and the Telstra A-Series Melbourne, he was forced to withdraw from the Australian Championships.

“At the interclub meet five days before Nationals I had a complete rupture of my plantar plate, which is a ligament in the foot between the big toe and the big metatarsal,” Martin recalled. “I snapped that and had to go into surgery four or five days later. I’m looking at two or three months off now - off throwing - but I’m back in the weight room. It’s a pretty serious injury but hopefully I will be over it pretty quickly.

“The surgeons did a great job and they are really happy with it,” he continued. “To be honest I didn’t expect to be doing any weights, especially any leg weights, for six weeks and I’m already back in the gym doing leg extensions and leg curls and a heap of upper body weights. I’m not losing too much strength and that’s the key I think. If I can keep my strength level up, the technique is there so it will come back straight away. Everything’s positive so far so I’ll have to wait and see.”

Until the injury Martin was pleased with his season, which had welcomed a personal best in Hobart in the shot put (20.42m), an entertaining discus tussle with Commonwealth Games representative Benn Harradine at the Telstra A-Series Sydney and a clash with shot put’s world No. 1 Christian Cantwell (USA) in Melbourne.

“I was really happy with (my season) considering because I actually had a lot of injuries throughout the season - nothing serious, but I had an injury where I had to stop training for a week here and a week there and three or four days off,” he said. “Before the Telstra A-Series in Melbourne I had six days without training because I injured my right ankle. Before that I had a dislodged rib joint and a lot of things.

“But I was competing really well and I was looking really good for the Nationals. I think I was in shape to throw a big PB in the shot put and I think I was going to go 62-63 in the discus as well, which would have been awesome. Considering I had pretty bad luck the whole time the results were coming really well.

“It was great (to throw against Cantwell),” he added. “I had competed against him in Europe a few times as well. In Australia, considering Justin Anlezark’s injury, unfortunately it was the case of me throwing against myself a lot with my closest rivals two metres away.

“To have him over to push me…the world-ranked No. 1 - I wasn’t too far away from him at the A-Series, 50cm or something like that - was pretty encouraging. I’m hoping to go a bit further or a bit closer to him in the near future.

“It was great to have him over and it’s good to see Athletics Australia bring over some really top quality to get the best out of their athletes. For me to throw a 20.20 at the A-Series without training for the week because of the injury was a pretty big result for me and definitely a big incentive having him there.”

Though his latest injury is not common for throwers, Martin’s admission of carrying injuries through the summer is a stark account of the wear and tear experienced by the giants of the field.

“Absolutely,” he replied when asked whether injury is a familiar theme. “Especially shot putters because it’s such a heavy weight and there’s so much strain on the body.

“In weights, we do so much really max-load weights so something’s bound to give here and there if your technique’s a little bit out. And the workload we do, we do something like 400-800 throws a week in winter and 20 hours in the gym. It’s really high-level heavy work and you’re bound to get a fair few injuries.

“You have those years, I think last year with the Commonwealth Games I just about had no injuries for the full year and this year I haven’t been able to go a week without an injury. You have your up years and your down years and hopefully it shouldn’t be a recurring problem and I can be nice and fit for the next 10 years or so.”

However, Martin’s absence from the Telstra Selection Trials and 85th Australian Championships in Brisbane didn’t hinder his shot put selection for the World Championships in Osaka when the Australian team was announced on March 19.

“I’m pretty excited - it’s four-and-a-half months (away),” he gushed. “It’s 10 weeks until I throw again which leaves me plenty of time to get back into shape.

“As long as I can keep the strength levels up the technique comes back. I throw 10,000 throws a year so it’s not the sort of thing that leaves you really quickly. I think it will come back pretty quick and hopefully I’m throwing PBs come Osaka.

“We’ll wait and see.”

By Steven Lavell