June 2018 to January 2021 Obstacles, Milestones and Memories

 Elijah's Gymnastics Journey June 2018 to January 2021

This 'Mom's Overcoming Memories' post picks up where the January to May 2018 Competition Season elijahgym blog post leaves off. Elijah GymBlog January to May 2018

All four of our teen/young adult children, Kaisha, Josh, Jasmine and Elijah, are overcomers and triumphantly so. This post describes Elijah's gymnastics journey for the year after his first National Championships in 4 years, highlighted in the post above. Looking back over the year June 2018 to July 2019 is such a great reminder of all the overcoming Elijah has excelled at and how current struggles are no different than those encountered and overcome in the past. 

Following a successful Nationals in Waterloo, Elijah immediately spent 4 weeks in a left wrist brace to heal the Salter Fracture 1 (stress fracture of the growth plate) in his radius. June 19th, 2018, the CT Scan revealed it had healed and he was relieved from the brace. During the month off arm events, he did do his usual floor and vault work with 'no hands', core conditioning, shoulder stability work and cardio. 

Two weeks before the National Camp he was invited to based on the 2018 season results (top 7 Juniors), he fell on a tumbling drill and partially tore his left ankle lateral ligament. This injury came on the heals of rehabbing the left wrist after its being in a splint for 4 weeks. Not a great way to enter Camp. However, the National Camp was held in Calgary and Elijah was determined to attend all twice daily sessions and train/condition to the best of his ability. 

"When we are saying this cannot be accomplished, this cannot be done, then we are short-changing ourselves. Kobe Bryant

We hosted teammate Patrick Talbot from the Maritimes during Camp. The two quite guys enjoyed their time together and we certainly enjoyed hosting.

Although he could not complete the skills test assigned as part of the National Camp, Elijah was named to the Junior National Espoir Team for 2018-2019, ranking 7th AA in Canada.

July and August were devoted to training arm events as Elijah's wrist recovered and conditioning/rehabbing the left ankle. It wasn't long before he was flipping again!

July and August 2018 Training

Training ramped up in the fall as Elijah's body healed and strengthened. Now he and his coach Bin Fan could consider the invitation to Canada Winter Games Trials. The many camps leading up to a series of trials in December, 2018, had to be missed or seriously limited due to injuries and surgeries. Thankfully, with his coach's support, Elijah entered the trials in December with clean routines that did not risk additional injuries. He would have liked to add increased difficulty particularly on high bar and parallel bars, but safety first!

September 2018 Training

October 2018 Training

Mock Meets and Trials November/December 2018

Despite a weak left ankle and not fully back to form after the wrist injury, Elijah placed 1st AA Day 1 of the final Trials to Canada Winter Games and 2nd Day 2, to be named to the 2019 Canada Winter Games team as Team Captain.

Canada Winter Games Trials December 2018

Following the two weekends of Trials, more training happened over Christmas (and some down time with family!) before a Canada Winter Games Test Event in Edmonton. The team as a whole had some significant missteps, but Elijah hit all 6 of his routines and also spent every spare moment studying for his Grade 12 Diploma Exams. (He had already received early admission confirmation from the University of Calgary for his chosen field, Physics, on a full President's Entrance Scholarship in November, 2018). 

Canada Winter Games Test Event January 2019

The lead up to the Canada Winter Games 2019 was stressful to say the least with Diplomas and Diploma prep, additional training camps and a two day Staging Event for all of Team Alberta at the CWG site in Red Deer, Alberta. It was at the Staging Event that the Team Gear was revealed, at the same time as the Team Alberta Flag Bearer. Both of these were well kept secrets, secret even to the team itself. It was a phenomenal surprise and highlight when Elijah's name was announced as the Team Alberta Flag Bearer, he marched down the theatre stairs past the 500+ athletes, flag hoisted and proudly displayed while the MC announced Elijah's accomplishments on and off the field of play and his honour to be named Flag Bearer.

It was such an amazing moment for Elijah and the team and our family too. A transcript of the press release referred to in the introduction is here:

Canada Winter Games 2019 Staging Event

The athletes enjoyed time at the venue, a short training session and team building.

Seeing athletes from across the province from every sport, hundreds of volunteers, amazing venues and smiling faces brought much joy to the cold winter days!

The days following the Staging Event were a blur of Diploma exams, training and ankle taping. The left ankle became stiff and sore again, hearkening back to the June ligament sprain and before that, the December 2016 fracture. Many physiotherapy visits and home rehab kept the ankle manageable going into the Games, but it was still a concern.

February 2019 Training

It was a relief to see Elijah through Diploma exams and see him off on the Canada Winter Games Team Alberta Bus! 

Coach Salvador Cano from our own gym was the Team Alberta coach and would take good care of all the boys we were sure.

Elijah was barely off the bus when CBC interviewed him as the Team Alberta Flag Bearer by telephoneCBC Flag Bearer Interview  (amazingly poised for off the cuff!) Canada Winter Games 2019 Interview

The Opening Ceremonies was sold out by the time Lyle and I tried to get tickets. We so wanted to see Elijah march in with the Alberta flag, leading Team Alberta. Thankfully, the Romano's had one extra ticket and kindly gave that to me so that I could attend. In truth it was the most spectacular event I have witnessed live!

JOY!!

And to think, only hours before Elijah had seriously jammed his left ankle in the very first Team training session on floor and did not know if he would be able to carry the flag let alone compete!

Coach Salvador assured us that they were taking good care, had taken Elijah to the medics and would update us in a few days. Lyle and I planned to drive to Red Deer to attend the Team competition where Elijah was to compete on all 6 events. His right wrist of course limited pommel horse, but he was excited to show all that he had on every event in safe clean routines. We did not hear that he was Not training, so we made our way, decked out in Team Alberta Gear, to the packed stadium to cheer on Elijah and his teammates.

The first thing we saw of Elijah was a massive tape job on his left ankle. He looked happy and we decided all must be well or he would not be preparing to compete. 

The competition was like nothing we had experienced: our first real taste of team spirit from all the provincial teams and especially the home team, Team Alberta! Volunteers passed out noisemakers and flags for us all and we used them in force! Elijah hit 6 for 6 routines, sticking all of his landings for the team! Seeing his joy was just remarkable. And, he finished on top of Team Alberta as the only member to qualify for event finals (floor and vault) as well as All Around Finals. Due to the ankle injury, he would be pulled from AA the next day to rest up for event finals where he had the greatest chance of placing for the team.

Canada Winter Games Warm ups and Routines

Elijah had a fantastic floor routine in Finals as well as Qualifications - just one fall on a front twisting line as he went for the 'stick' and was a little short, leaving him in 7th. Vault was fantastic. He did not add the 1/2 twist, but was clean for a solid 4th place finish.

Canada Winter Games Photos

An amazing amazing experience! Seeing Elijah compete with class and confidence after many injuries and stresses in the lead up to the meet, cheering on his Team Alberta teammates, joining with former Team Canada teammates on the floor in the finals with all the camaraderie they have always had, all of it was just fantastic.

I am so thankful for coach Bin Fan's support of Elijah throughout his years of injuries and advocacy for him in the last weeks before Canada Winter Games 2019 to be admitted to Trials and compete for Alberta. Looking back, from the perspective of January 2021 and almost 11 months of pandemic and associated lockdowns, it was the greatest decision.

March to May, 2019:

Following Canada Winter Games, Elijah took some time to attend to injuries (shoulder was acting up again, back was sore, as was the left ankle) before preparing for his first senior competition at the University of Calgary International Cup in March, as well as participation in the national camp the week prior as a Team Espoir member.

UCIC had some highlights for sure, but, again, Elijah's left ankle caused some issues (nevertheless, his floor and vault were his best events!). Eugene Marte and Darryl Finnerty, Elijah's physiotherapists at Group 23 Sport Medicine, worked on his ankle in the lead up and even watched his floor event as it was held at the Markin McPhail Arena at Winsport where they practice. Dr. Auld, Elijah's long time sport medicine doctor, even walked out and was able to watch rings and floor! So proud of his perseverance and especially the floor routine which taxed the ankle, but he nailed!

Job well done! Coach Bin Fan

Following UCIC, there was precious little time to heal and rest up for Provincials 2019. This was a big moment for Elijah as he was able to again compete all 6 events, for the first time in years of injuries and surgeries, this time as a Senior Men's Gymnast! At this point, his back was starting to bother him on landings (though we would not know for months that he already had a pars stress fracture at this point in his L5), his left shoulder was sore as was his left ankle. Getting through Provincials was the goal, although his 2nd place all round and top finishes on floor and high bar, were phenomenal bonuses!

Alberta Provincial Championships 2019

Provincials was a tough meet - some great moments, but pain throughout. Good to be done.

May was dedicated to preparation for National Championships in Ottawa, the first for Elijah as a Senior. He had qualified for 4 events (High Bar, Floor, Vault and Rings), while just missing the difficulty requirement by .10 for Parallel Bars. Podium Day was fantastic for him - hitting 3/4 events and even his difficult vault. Qualification day was a bit tougher on vault but he nailed his floor routine which was a win!

It was especially great to have Grandpa Goodman in attendance!

Canadian National Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2019

Another highlight from Nationals was team coach Mada, Elijah's former coach from Calgary Gymnastics Centre, coaching alongside Bin. Mada was most complimentary of Elijah's progress over the years despite injury and surgery set backs. He sat with me in the audience during Podium Day warm up and told how professional and accomplished Elijah had been all week at Nationals tice daily training sessions for seniors. 

Elijah finished his Grade 12 year extremely well, with top marks in all of Alberta on his Diploma Exams (and more scholarship awards as a result). To accomplish that while being at the top of his sporting career was phenomenal. He also spent considerable time lobbying for the National Sport School to remain open in Calgary despite the Calgary Board of Education's threats to close it. In the end, a one year respite from closure was granted.

This file as well as interviews and letters were submitted by Elijah to the CBE:

Elijah Thompson Support for NSS

Although Elijah's back and ankle were both still bothersome on and off, training for Elite Canada in July went well with significant upgrades on floor, high bar, vault and parallel bars.

July 2019 Training 

All looked fine for Elite Canada July 15, when, on July 9, Elijah 'jammed' his back on a front tumbling line (front layout punch front layout double twist). We saw the doctor and physiotherapist immediately and both felt it was just a jam of the pars interarticularis and with therapy would be fine for him to compete. He took 3 days off and then could still do very little at training. Coach Bin Fan made the difficult call 3 days before the flight to pull Elijah from Elite Canada. This ultimately was the right decision as a bone scan in August identified bilateral stress fractures of the L5 Pars, one of which he likely had the entire season including at Canada Winter Games. This was really hard news. 

What followed was months and months of physio, rehab, and core work until February when he was finally cleared to start slowly back on events. As he started back, the left wrist began limiting him so we checked in with Dr. Phillips at the Alberta Children's Hospital. She quickly confirmed that his ulnar bone was more 'deviated' (gymnast wrist) than when she saw him the year before and that he needed bilateral ulnar growth plate fusion to try to arrest the deviation. This was booked for March 12, 2020. As it turned out, when Elijah emerged from that surgery, 1) the pandemic was announced to be global and Alberta and Canada went into a 3.5 month lockdown, and 2) Dr. Phillips saw that the left ulna bone would have to be shortened per Dr. Carmen Brauer and he was duly referred!

On the positive side, during lockdown Elijah began working with physio Kate Richardson remotely out of Fernie, BC on strengthening the core through Pilates and with WAG coach Darren Webster on leg and full body strength and conditioning. When Elijah emerged from lockdown June 22nd, he was actually stronger than when he went in according to Coach Bin Fan. 

March 12 2020 surgery and COVID Conditioning

May-June 2020 At Home Training

June 22nd was Elijah's first day back in the gym and June 30th, 2020 he had his second surgery of the pandemic: left ulnar shortening. He recovered well!

Left Wrist Surgery and Rehab July/August 2020

Fall 2020 Training

High Bar came back really well, but the right wrist started to slow down other events after a limited time back on parallel bars and floor. Dr. Brauer decided to do another surgery December 9, 2020, this time to try to remove the right radial tip and give the right wrist some more mobility and less pain!

It is now January 20, 2021, time for new hope and new goals! Elijah continues to do rehab and conditioning work at home during a second major lockdown since December 12, 2020.

Winter Lockdown 2021

He also encourages the little boys at his gym by hopping in to their Zoom sessions from time to time to condition with them and offer words of encouragement. Similarly he responds to requests from NSS friends and new friends from university for online tutoring, with willingness and joy.

Looking back at the past 2 years, it seems like a lifetime of experiences happened! It also seems like there was no end of overcoming for Elijah, but also no end of healing. I will trust that that will continue and he will rise again from the latest wrist setback to shine and inspire others.