Friday, June 1, 2012

Peng Peng Lee Officially Out



Peng Peng Lee officially withdrew from the Canadian Olympic Trials due to a torn ACL.  This is a huge break for PPL, for Canadian Gymnastics and for the entire gymnastics community.  Peng Peng Lee overcame numerous injuries and odds to become Canada's strongest gymnast.  As a result of her character and perseverance, Peng Peng Lee has been named the Honorary Team Captain.

One interesting aspect becomes when she will be able to have her surgery.  As it is, Peng Peng Lee will likely have to redshirt her freshman year at UCLA.  There is a chance she could be ready on bars for the end of the season, but she needs to be able to have surgery on her ACL.  If she is to get surgery in Canada, she will likely have to wait.  She can get it in the US, but it would be costly for someone who has nationalized medical insurance in another country.  If UCLA picks up the tab for the surgery, PPL may have to wait until the first summer session to have the surgery.

My heart breaks for Peng Peng Lee.  It was unlikely that she'd be able to compete at the Olympics, but the finality of it has to be quite devastating for her and her numerous fans.  She will go on to UCLA.  One has to worry if UCLA is reloading with the walking wounded team it had five or six years ago.  We all wish Peng Peng Lee a speedy recovery and will miss her presence on the floor in London.

36 comments:

  1. So upset for Peng Peng. I've really enjoyed watching her perform and look forward to seeing what Val does with her after she recovers.

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  2. This sport is too unforgiving.

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    1. Most Olympic sports are unforgiving where injury is concerned; I don't know why people speak as if gymnastics is somehow different.

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  3. So sad, hopefully she can go to London and cheer on her team. I really hope once she is all healed up she will try for another worlds or maybe even Olympics. But if she doesn't I hope she has a great NCAA career. I don't really watch college gym but I'll definitely keep an eye on her and Bridget Sloan!

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  4. Very sad, she was one of the best gymnasts Canada ever had. It was too bad that her coaches were so horrible. Her one coach destroyed her back [and many of her teammates backs as well]. Her new coach destroyed her knees. I have not heard one person say that Peng was capable of performing that vault.

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    1. I don't know if we should blame Kelly Manjak. He successfully coached Kyle Shewfelt to world and Olympic medals.

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    2. Peng was very capable of performing that vault, she had done it before.

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  5. She didn't need that vault until the Olympics...

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    1. Right, but she still needed to do something more than a Yurchenko full. There are more than 4 higher scoring Canadian vaults, and in order for her to be able to do AA, she would've had to be one of the 4 vaulting.

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  6. Totally sucks, man. She was looking so good this year, too!

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  7. SINCE SHE IS ON THE CAN NATIONAL TEAM. SHOULDN'T THAT BE ABEL TO GET HERE SURGERY IMMEDIATLY.sorry caps was on

    if she were a hockey player she would have been in the OR right away.

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    1. You would think. However, hockey players and others in big-money sports can pay to jump the line

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  8. please, being on the canadian national team will do nothing for her as far as getting her surgery. She will wait and wait and wait. This is what us americans can look forward to. This is not an emergency, maybe she will have surgery in 10 months if she is lucky. She will be treated just like everyone else unless she wants to pay for it.

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    1. Let's not bring American politics and misconceptions about Canadian healthcare into this!

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  9. Well being a Canadian myself, and never being denied what surgery I ever needed or care I ever needed in a timely fashion, I would rather wait a bit, than bankrupt my family.

    I recently broke the ball joint in my humerus bone, and dislocated that shoulder at the same time. I was seen, and taken care of and if I needed surgery it would have been done asap. Plus, I walked out with just my monthly premium at under a hundred bucks a month for my whole family. My many trips back and forth to the emergency since then has never been a worry or burden to my family.
    You guys to the south of me are just so messed up in your thinking about how things are up here. You hear some disgruntled account of some bitchy person, or media and think that is how it is.

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  10. you had to pay a monthly premium? I thought everything was free? The problem is that there are a lot of unnecessary surgeries in the usa. I think with the obama care, they will plan to stall so people will forget or die before having it. Nothing is perfect that is for sure.

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    1. The premiums are free for those under a certain income, or paid by the employer. I think it also depends on which province you live in.

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  11. As a Canadian, I think it is hilarious how misinformed Americans are about our healthcare system. believe it or not, an elite level athlete with a full scholarship to the US with a torn ACL would not have to wait long at all for surgery. Depending on the severity of the ACL tear, a random dude off the street would get surgery ASAP if their injury greatly impaired their mobility. Longer wait times are for schlubs like me...a retired swimmer with a very slightly torn shoulder labrum that doesn't impact my everyday life.

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  12. WHY were her coaches pushing her to do a harder vault she wasn't ready for when she is injury prone? I'm sad this happened to her so close to her dream. She really could have pushed for medal

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    1. She was training the vault to up her difficulty. She performed it against the advice of her coaches.

      The irony is that, not only did she not need it to make the cut to final selection, but if she had made it to the Olympics she might not have had to perform it.

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  13. There's no way Lee would have wait long for surgery, as others have said. The Canadian health care system is tiered based on need.

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    1. Tessa Virtue got her surgery in the US because she would've had to wait otherwise. AJ is very into skating and a huge Tessa Virtue fan. Tessa was Olympic Champion and would've had to wait.

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  14. You pay a monthly premium if you make a certain wage. My kids who are now over 19 pay nothing because they don't make enough. It is based on your income tax return. I think it maxes out at around 80-100 bucks...not sure.I never paid attention. It pays for all hospital, surgeries, and Dr. visits.

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    1. Oh that premium was based on 6 people in our family.

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  15. now I guess we'll have to be watching one boring straddle jump mount after the other in team finals. Stupid injuries

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  16. Great that she has been named as the team leader, credit to canadian federetion for respecting their great gymnasts unlike some other countries (cough USAG)
    I wish she could compete

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  17. So stupid that her coaches had her do this vault. When was the last time she successfully performed it?

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  18. Peng Peng Lee got her MRI in Buffalo, NY after the injury happened. She would've had to wait for the MRI. I wonder how long she'd have to wait for her surgery.

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    1. Vanessa Meloche had to wait six months to get her torn ACL repaired in Canada and it had to be redone at Nebraska because it was done incorrectly. It is likely Peng Peng Lee could have to wait. It is not as though she is an Olympic hopeful anymore.

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  19. Honestly, waiting about a month or so would be ideal. It's best to wait for the swelling to go down and train your knee before surgery to speed up recovery. Where/when did Jessica Savona have her surgeries?

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  20. Savona had her last ACL surgery within a month of injury. In Toronto.

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  21. Savona's second knee surgery went much better than her first, too. They used an allograft and she was able to start vaulting almost as soon as she was cleared to start training again.
    http://gymnasticscoaching.com/new/2012/01/jessica-savona-interview/

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  22. Yeah, waiting has more to do with healing of initial trauma than any technical or geographic issue, it will likely depend, among other things, on the details of the injury and what else happened. The graft should take better in the presence of less inflammation, which generally means waiting at least a few weeks.

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