Morrison content to be back racing
Officially, he did not race. Scan the speedskating results for the Olympic Oval Finale — the season-capping stop on the Canada Cup circuit — and you will not find Denny Morrison’s name. Thursday’s 1, 000 metres came and went without him.
In reality, though, that is not true.
What happened was, Morrison did skate, did post a time, did kick off his return to racing.
But he was disqualified for not wearing ankle protectors, mandatory for domestic events.
At this point — 10 months after a motorcycle accident buckled his carcass ( breaking his right leg, puncturing his lung, fracturing a bone near his spine, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, cracking his elbow, bruising his liver and kidneys, leaving him concussed) — who really cares?
Certainly not the guy him- self. It’s a footnote. “I just totally forgot.” So, rattled by the oversight? Hardly.
“I’d much rather forget my ankle guards as (part of ) getting rid of the rustiness than forget to change lanes or to toe- in on the start line or clip myself on the turn or fall or something like that,” Morrison said. “That would be much more catastrophic than forgetting my ankle guards.”
Besides, for the fourtime Olympic medallist and two- time world champion, physical danger wasn’t part of the afternoon’s storyline.
Fear of the unknown, instead, had unsettled Morrison.
“I was more nervous than I was for the Olympics because nervousness can be associated very directly with your level of preparation,” said the 30-year-old. “I felt like a junior — I didn’t know how well prepared I was, I didn’t know what my expectations were, I didn’t know how hard to try, I didn’t know what I was capable of — so the nerves were out the roof.
“When they called me to the start line, it felt a little bit like an Olympic race, like, ‘ This is for real. As soon as I cross that line, it’s go time.’ The heart was pitter- pattering away.”
How then, after countless hours of rehabilitation, after a never- ending series of setbacks, did it feel to complete the first race of his comeback?
Happy? Relieved? Satisfied?
“All three,” replied Morrison, who had been beaming during his cool-down laps after the clocking of 1:09.41. “If I would’ve raced a week ago, I would’ve been in the 1: 12 area. If I would’ve raced a month ago, it would’ve been 1:15. The recovery in the last two weeks has just exponentially increased.
“And it’s just got me superexcited.”
The c r owd, t oo, was stoked, applauding his start, his long strides past the bleachers, his finish.
Even from across the Atlantic Ocean came support.
“It’s going to be huge for Denny,” Gilmore Junio said the other day from Amsterdam. “Just being back in that competitive atmosphere is going to be a relief off his back, whatever the result may be. It’s something that he’s been chasing all season. He was hoping to race in the fall, then he was hoping to race in the Canadian championships (in January) ... but the doctors tried to keep the reins on him.
“He’s always tr ying to push and push to get to where he wants to be as fast as he can.”
That ( at times) demoralizing process can now be considered hard-earned wisdom.
In an open letter, via the CBC’s website, Morrison addressed countryman Mark McMorris, a snowboarder who r ecently broke his femur. In the encouraging note, the skater comes off as the sage old man, having suffered, having learned.
Morrison wrote: “My method of reliably proving to myself that I’ve improved has been through a massive, indescribable, and ridiculous amount of patience.”
Asked about reaching out to a fellow Olympian, he said: “You can be told something, but till you experience it, you don’t really get it 100 per cent — or, at least, I didn’t. Now that I’ve experienced things, I just want to share that experience with whoever could benefit.”