Francis eyeing March return

It will be another three months before Jamaica’s Olympic gymnast, Danusia Francis, makes a full recovery from the knee injury which prevented her from completing her artistic gymnastics event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Francis told The Gleaner that the knee problem she had, which was first diagnosed as an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, was later found to also have a meniscus tear.

She completed surgery on both her ACL and meniscus in October and has earmarked March for her return to full training.

“I had the surgery on my knee, ACL and meniscus, three months ago. It’s coming on nicely, but I still have three more months before I can start doing some proper gymnastics,” she said.

“When I got my MRI, it was just the ACL that needed surgery. But when they looked at the knee, the meniscus was also torn, so I had to get seven stitches and it was quite a serious procedure.

“After surgery, I had to wait four weeks to relearn walking; so it delayed it a bit more than I’d hope.

“But I have been doing some running, jumping and hopping, and I will get back into the gym this year at the six months mark, which is in March, and I hope to start doing some gymnastics and see how it feels,” she stated.

Francis picked up the injury prior to the Olympics. She was unable to complete her first routine at the Games and had to withdraw from the competition.

“I was so ready to compete at the Olympics. I did a practice competition just days before leaving, and I barely bend a knee or took a step, much less made a mistake.

“I was really excited to show my hard work. But these things (injuries) happen, and I was still excited to get the opportunity to perform a short routine and just show that Jamaican spirit of determination.

“I also wanted to be in the record books of doing two Olympics, not just doing one. I didn’t want that to be missing from the record books because I had done all the hard work, and I wanted Jamaica to be there 2016 and 2020 and hopefully, we will carry on the trend,” she reasoned.

The 27 year-old was hoping to return in time for the Commonwealth Games, which starts on July 28 in her home country, England. However, with her recovery schedule to take longer than anticipated, she is now just looking to see where she is in March.

“I was hoping to do the Commonwealth Games, but the recovery is longer than expected.

“So I will probably not make it back for the Commonwealth Games because of this longer recovery, and that is unfortunate.

“I live in the United Kingdom and I would just love to represent Jamaica, with my family and friends there to support.

“But I am just going to wait until March and then take it from there,” she said.

The two-time Olympian, who plans to get married this year, is in the island on vacation with her fiancé. On Thursday, she spent the afternoon coaching young gymnasts at the Jamaica Gymnastics Association’s gym in Kingston and was impressed by the young talent she saw.

“The young ones are really good; they have great technique, as I see them tumbling so far and it is looking great.

“It’s amazing coming to Kingston for a few weeks and just be able to push the girls and help them get to that next level.

“We have home-grown talent, we just need funding. If we get those things we will be unstoppable,” she said.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com