After lengthy bout with COVID-19, U.S. sprinter English Gardner eyes Olympic return
U.S. sprinter English Gardner says her lengthy fight with COVID-19 earlier this spring left her body in shambles. She had muscle cramps and leg pain. Headaches. Swollen joints. Full-body rashes. Extreme fatigue. Respiratory problems.
"It's been terrible," Gardner said in a news conference Tuesday. "If I can really be honest with you guys, it's been really, really terrible."
Gardner, who won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics as part of Team USA's 4x100 relay team, said she contracted COVID-19 less than two months ago, in late April. The 29-year-old experienced what she described as "long-hauler symptoms" and said she really hasn't felt like her normal self until this week – when she'll try to book her ticket to Tokyo at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon.
The New Jersey native is set to compete in the 100-meter dash on Friday and Saturday.
"I feel confident going into the trials this week, because I have nothing to lose and everything to gain," Gardner said. "I've already beaten COVID. I feel like a conqueror. And so this week will definitely just make me more of a conqueror."
While several Olympic hopefuls have contracted COVID-19 over the past year, Gardner's illness came at a particularly precarious time. She said the disease sidelined her for "about a month" in April and May, then continued to linger after she returned to the track.
Early on, Gardner said, her resting heart rate would be north of 100 beats per minute for several hours after a workout.
"My coach, being the smart man that he is, he really took his time in easing me back into workouts, easing me back into training," she said.
Gardner returned to competition at the USA Track and Field Golden Games on May 9. She reached the final but finished last with a time of 11.50 seconds; Her personal best, for comparison, is 10.74.
Gardner said Tuesday that she struggled with competing in multiple heats at the same event, which prompted further training adjustments by her coach in an attempt to mimic the rhythm of competition. She's since run at two other meets, including one last weekend.
The women's 100-meter dash promises to be one of the most competitive events at this month's Olympic trials. Seven Americans have broken the 11-second mark this season, led by Sha'Carri Richardson, who has run three of the four fastest times in the world in that event in 2021.
Gardner hopes that, even after her lengthy fight with COVID-19, she will be in the mix and punch her ticket to a second consecutive Summer Games.
"(Fighting COVID-19) is definitely something that makes you appreciate what you do, appreciate the sport, appreciate life," she said. "And it definitely I think made me work a little bit harder, as well, to try to come back and be able to compete at these trials."
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Olympic sprinter English Gardner hopes to make Tokyo Games after COVID
