Sports Medicine Must Evolve to Protect “Zebra Athletes” from Avoidable Long-Term Consequences

I was a competitive figure skater. I defied gravity, spinning above my skating partner’s head, gracefully landing on a quarter-inch blade. Then life changed. Here’s why and how.

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My mother always told me I was a zebra in a herd of horses. Her analogy made sense as a child of nine who had been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. The zebra is the symbol of EDS, my rare connective tissue disorder. The zebra represents the challenge of diagnosis, as the symptoms often overlap with those of more common chronic illnesses like fibromyalgia. To spot the “zebra,” healthcare professionals must look beyond their initial assumptions and consider more unusual diagnoses.

I was an anomaly, not because of my athleticism but my inability to remain healthy. So questions arise: Were my injuries simply the price I had to pay for my skating career? Or should my doctors and medical team have intervened before it was too late?

With the 2024 Summer Olympics on the horizon, many athletes are giving everything they have to pursue Olympic trials. Athletes follow rigid training paths to compete at the highest level. Risking one’s health is often seen as a small price to pay for athletic achievement.

Even though I could not put any weight on my ankle, I followed their injurious advice as it allowed me to continue training. After the failed skating attempt led to more pain, I finally saw a doctor commonly referred to as a “sports medicine specialist.” He diagnosed my injury as a minor avulsion fracture and told me I would return to the ice in four weeks.

But unfortunately, he had misplaced my X-ray CD; his treatment plan was based on the hope that the injury was minor and would heal in weeks. But here’s the thing: his laissez-faire approach was perfect. He told me everything I wanted to hear, which meant I could return to training as soon as possible with minimal physical therapy.

After two months of agony, I was referred to a surgeon who discovered that I had shattered bones and torn all the ligaments in my ankle. Immediately after ankle surgery, I skipped rehabilitation with the support of my trainers and doctors to prepare for a tryout at the Olympic Training Center.

Especially when athletes have underlying conditions that put them at a higher risk for injury, long and short-term health preservation is a boundary that cannot be crossed during athletic training when trainers and medical professionals rigorously train and treat a herd of athletes in a general approach. “Zebra athletes” are at a higher risk of injury.

Every athlete has a different breaking point with individual risks based on genetics and underlying health issues. Therefore, it is imperative to implement a personalized training plan for each athlete to optimize their performance while minimizing the risk of injury.

A common dichotomy in sports is the balance between reward and physical risk. Trainers and healthcare professionals often feed into an athlete’s desire to return to their sports, prioritizing sport over health. Athletes often know the long-term impacts of training, but it feels like a small price to pay for athletic success.

In the name of health preservation and physical longevity, please save athletes from the pressure to perform, even if it comes from themselves. Sports medicine must evolve to consider “zebra athletes” to protect them from avoidable long-term consequences.

I was groomed from a young age to perform in a pervasive culture that teaches athletes to sacrifice their bodies for their sports. Had I taken the time to heal physically, my career may have been less successful, a price deemed too large by those who held my career and health in their hands.