Updated the headline to reflect that there is not really any new information, just thoughts on the situation.
Last week it was reported that Alissa Czisny will be undergoing surgery on a torn labrum in her left hip. She reportedly received the diagnosis last Monday, according to Detroit Free Press. Commence the skater's rush to blame the late season troubles on the hip injury:
"It's a relief to know that there's a reason why I couldn't do things," said Czisny, 24, who opened last season with two medals on the ISU Grand Prix circuit before hurting her left ankle in December -- an injury that might have contributed to her hip issue.
I guess I'm just surprised that if the injury was severe enough to have affected Czisny enough to contribute to a 22nd (!) place finish at Worlds, how is it she was not aware of it? And why did it take so long for the diagnosis? Was she in pain at Worlds? In that case, how is she different from Rachael Flatt, who was fined an unprecedented amount for not reporting an injury that dogged her at the 2011 Worlds (where it should be noted, she came in 10 spots AHEAD of Czisny's 2012 effort, in 12th place, and received very little sympathy from the internets or press, while mostly everyone just felt bad for Czisny's terrible showing). So what's the difference? Did Czisny really not know something was wrong at Worlds even though she may have had a latent hip injury? Or was she smarter than Flatt by not drawing attention to any possible injury for a couple of months?
I can't say I'm an expert in hip injuries, but I would assume Czisny knows her body well enough to have had an inkling that her inability to land jumps was caused by a pain if she...indeed, felt a pain. And if not, then I'd rather she not use the injury as an excuse now if it may not have been the culprit then. But maybe I am mistaken in thinking she would have felt something was wrong. Maybe it really is just the sort of injury that creeps up on you and affects you for awhile without you knowing it. And let's not forget that timing is everything, and Flatt's timing of her injury announcement last year was pretty atrocious.
Either way, Czisny's surgery will require about four months off ice recovery, so we hope it's a speedy one. Czisny is still one of the most beautiful skaters in the world, with or without the jumps.
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