US swimmer Murphy shows his toughness
Ryan Murphy, a 2016 Olympian and three-time gold medalist, who is looking to qualify for his second Games, remembers one of the most difficult moments in fighting his migraine headaches.
It’s a powerful story, and it demonstrates what Murphy has overcome not just as an Olympian, but as a human being fighting the beast that is a migraine.
Murphy has partnered with Eli Lilly, the prescription medicines partner of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC). Eli Lilly works to treat various conditions such as diabetes and also focuses on oncology and biomedicine therapeutics.
As a new USOPC sponsor, Lilly is working with a number of Olympic athletes including Chaunté Lowe. Lowe is a fourtime Olympian (2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016) in track and field attempting to qualify for her fifth Games.
In 2019 she was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. She underwent a double mastectomy and chemotherapy to treat the disease and has returned to competition. She’s also a mom of three children.
Murphy’s story centers on a flight that he’ll never forget.
“Yeah honestly the hardest part about migraines is how unexpected it is,” said Murphy to USA TODAY Sports. “It comes at inopportune times mostly for me. A lot of the time migraines come as a result of stress, so when I have a lot going on and then you couple that with the migraines, it is a little bit tough to deal with.
“In terms of specific events, I think the most embarrassing migraine story that I have: It was we were leaving for the 2012 Olympic Trials, so I was leaving out of my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. I was super nervous for my first Olympic trials. It made me connect through the Atlanta airport, and get on the second plane.
“On that plane was the entire Auburn swim team, and in swimming culture, these college guys are like gods in the entire sport. So I was looking around swimnerding out, super nervous to be around those people and then also being nervous to compete at the Olympic Trials.
“I got a migraine on that second flight on my way to Omaha. For me, when I get a migraine, the first thing that happens is that I get really hot, I start sweating, so I was asking the flight attendant for ‘water,’ I’m going to try and hydrate my way out of this. Didn’t really work. Instead I was like, massaging my temples, trying to work out the migraine that way, and ultimately I ended up having to run down the aisle because I felt like I was going to throw up. There was someone in the bathroom as I was running down that aisle, so I was shaking the door, there’s someone in there, and so I puked all over that firstclass cabin.” I had run to the front of the plane, puked all over, I think a little bit of puke got onto the Auburn head coach’s shoe, just to add to the embarrassment.
“So, I am making light of this story, it was not a very fun experience and I think that that moment really did teach me that I’ve got to figure out how to help manage these symptoms that I’m getting.”