Valerie Constien might have suffered a setback this season, but it would be wise not to count her out. The talented Olympic 3000m steeplechase athlete is on the road to recovery, and she’s using her blue collar work ethic and positive mindset to lead her as she eyes her return to the track.
Constien, who made the 2020 Tokyo Olympic team, was hopeful to represent Team USA this season in Budapest at the World Championships. That hope unfortunately faded away in May when suffered a knee injury early on in the season that would end her season.
“So I tore my ACL when I went to Doha for the first time in my Nike kit, first time at a Diamond League, the first time at a big track meet besides the Olympics, obviously,” she said. “And it was the second lap of the race, and just a freak landing. I don’t think I did anything wrong. No one bumped me, just a freak landing, and I felt a pop and my race was over. And a couple days later, I got an MRI when I got back to the States, and a few days after the MRI, got the results back. And I was devastated.”
While Constien was understandably upset by the news that her ACL was torn and that it would require surgery to fix it, she felt that the best way to get through the adversity that she faced was to approach it with optimism instead of sadness. Her mindset paid dividends, as she believes it has allowed her rehabilitation to move quicker than expected.
“I woke up the next morning, and I was like, okay, this is not productive,” she said. “I can’t keep being this sad because the reality is, if my ACL is torn, there’s really nothing I can do about it, I just have to get surgery and do the recovery process. But if I’m this sad and depressed while I’m going through all this stuff, it’s just going to be 10 times harder to get the surgery to recover from the surgery, and then to try to run again. And so I had to try to come up with a positive mindset and a positive spin and just really compartmentalize my emotions about the whole thing.
And so I think that all the (physical therapy), all the positive attitude, just kind of trying to take things one step at a time, but giving it 100% and trying to be happy along the way has really paid dividends because I’m really far ahead of schedule, which is incredible.”
Constien has been open about her journey on her YouTube channel, where she shares what the rehabilitation process has been for her. She said that she’s usually a bit more reserved, but through sharing her journey, she’s been able to give hope to others, while also receiving encouragement from others.
“I think I kind of had to make a choice, I can hide away and keep this really private,” she said. “But I almost felt like that was a disservice because I’m an Olympian. I’m an indoor national champion. I’m a Nike athlete. And I think that there’s probably certain people out there who are genuinely interested in my story and in my life, and if I can inspire people in any way, I feel like that’s almost my responsibility. And people tear their ACL’s all the time, whether or not they’re running. And not even just ACL’s – people have horrible injuries all the time. And I mean, I’ve been lucky enough to have a really great surgery and a really great post op and a really great recovery. And I think that being able to kind of share this with others, hopefully will help people when they have to get surgeries or have an injury or whatever.”
Constien signed a contract with Nike prior to the outdoor season, which was her first ever shoe contract. Even though she suffered the season-ending injury, she appreciates the support that the company has given her, and she’s excited for what lies ahead, which is the Olympic Games that will be held in Paris next summer.
“And so just the fact that everyone who kind of, I guess has some power in this whole contract world – everyone was telling me you’re fine, don’t worry about it,” she said. “Like no buyer’s remorse. We’re so happy that we’re with you. We believe that you’re going to run fast. And if you don’t, if you want to retire, that’s fine, too. We’ll support you in that as well. But just let us know what you want to do. I don’t want to retire. I got my sights set on 2024.”
