Dutch sprint star Ranomi Kromowidjojo came away from Rio without any medals despite being the 2012 Olympic champion in both the women’s 50m and 100m freestyle events. The Dutch women’s 4x100m freestyle relay also suffered a medal drought in Rio, slipping to 4th place after scoring bronze in London.
Although downplayed at the time by her coach Patrick Pearson, 26-year-old Kromowidjojo suffered a slight injury to one of her spinal discs just weeks before Rio’s opening ceremony. As we reported, Pearson said of the incidents occurring just 20 days from the Games, “This is obviously not the best timing to run into an injury but having a few days of less intensive training will have no impact on her Road to Rio.”
However, now almost 3 months removed from the Games, the seriousness of Kromowidjojo’s injury is coming to light. Pearson now reveals that after the disc injury, “Ranomi could barely walk a few days. It was then shuffle.
“That finally pulled in, and at the last training camp in Sardinia could make she starts. But we have four weeks of no weight training can do. You’ll find out in explosiveness. These decreases result.” (NOS)
As to why the 26-year-old short course world record holder didn’t make her injury known ahead of racing in Rio, ‘Kromo’ said, “You can do nothing to change it. And I’d argue it’s not an excuse. But the problem was there.”
Kromowidjojo has since undergone an MRI, which confirmed there is no hernia. Instead, the scan revealed the athlete is struggling with a small bulge between the vertebrae. With careful preparation and adjustments to strength workouts, Kromo is slated to compete at the Short Course World Championships.
In the meantime, one of her former coaches, Marcel Wouda, has been appointed Head Coach of the National Training Center in Amsterdam. The appointment is one of several changes resulting from review of the nation’s lackluster performance in the pool in Rio.