They had been warned by family and friends. She should only take on the task that ZDF offered her if she was emotionally up to her. Lisa Mayer relied on her gut feeling, and what the 27-year-old is experiencing these days at her premiere as a TV expert in front of the camera in Budapest’s new athletics stadium, she confirms. Having a job at the World Championships in Hungary, being part of the title fights, although the European relay champion from Sprint Team Wetzlar cannot be at the start due to injury, makes it easier for her to bear her own situation. The dream of participating and doing well in the major event had burst for the Frankfurter two months ago. When she started training, a tendon in her left thigh tore. An injury “out of nowhere” for which the doctors could not find an explanation.
On the other hand, there is no connection with the long-term problems with the hip flexors, which had slowed down the Olympic semi-finalist over 200 meters in Rio 2016 so often in recent years and which she only got under control after intensive treatment in the summer of 2022. National and home coach David Corell wants to review everything that his athlete had recently done in the joint units.
After the “rehab year” in 2022, in which the duo had opted for longer runs, Mayer, freed from pain, was more “fast, short stimuli with few breaks”. With the result that the second in the German indoor championships over 60 meters at the end of May brought her best season start over 100 meters and her third fastest time ever outdoors to the Wetzlar track in 11.16 seconds.
Haven’t shown everything that’s in it yet
She tries to maintain her strong athletic condition from back then as best she can. Mayer had an operation on the tendon in order to lose as little strength as possible. With conservative treatment, the tissue might not have grown optimally again.
She has already reached the “full range of motion” again, says the athlete, who also dedicates her rehabilitation program to her days off during the World Cup. After her return from the Danube, she will start training on a special treadmill that, thanks to air pressure, allows jogging with only part of her body weight. In October, the Hessian hopes to return to her training squad to prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she would also like to compete on her recently neglected ‘favourite’ distance, 200 metres. The time of 23.01 seconds, which would have been enough in the World Cup preliminaries without German participation, “I trust myself to do”. Especially since the athlete with a best time of 22.64 from 2017 has the feeling that she has never shown everything she is capable of due to the long period of suffering.
Achim Dreis, Munich Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 49 Michael Reinsch, Eugene Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 9 Achim Dreis Published/Updated: Recommendations: 4
Mayer has not yet decided whether her last major appearance will be in France. “Maybe I’ll enjoy running for another four years,” she says. In order to concentrate 100 percent on the way to Paris, she put her master’s degree in media and communication on hold. She had already pushed aside her desire to become a journalist. The “positive” experiences in Budapest could change her mind.
