A KICK OUT OF IT
Woodlands’ Victoria Stambaugh finds balance in uneven path to Olympics taekwondo.
Preparing for the Olympics isn’t only a physical pursuit.
For Victoria Stambaugh, it’s also mental, emotional and spiritual.
That’s why she reserves only one session a day to train for this summer’s Olympics, in which she will compete in taekwondo, the Korean martial art, representing Puerto Rico. Stambaugh, 28, knows not to push her body past its breaking point.
She opts to train smarter and more efficiently.
It’s a lesson she learned the hard way.
“I’m ready to do this. I’ve been waiting.” Taekwondo Olympian Victoria Stambaugh
In the past, Stambaugh would train twice a day and go for runs in between.
“I was obsessed with training and obsessed with taekwondo,” said Stambaugh, who lives in The Woodlands. “It was not healthy. As athletes, you need a balance. I wasn’t training smart.”
Still, looking back, Stambaugh considers it all a blessing that brought her exactly where she needs to be — ready to give her all for the 2021 Olympics, which begin July 23.
“I’m ready to do this,” she said. “I’ve been waiting.”
‘A family thing’
Born in Pasadena, Stambaugh began training in taekwondo when she was 8, after trying both judo and karate. Her father,
Frank Stambaugh, was a professional boxer and wanted her to learn self-defense.
When her cousins enrolled in taekwondo, her parents signed her up, along with her three brothers.
“It was a family thing,” Stambaugh said. “That’s one of the reasons that I really enjoyed it.”
She earned a blue belt at her first competition when she was 9, and by age 14, she joined the USA Junior National Team and competed in the 2008 Junior World Championships in Turkey.
The next year, Stambaugh made the USA National Team and competed in the 2009 World Championships. She was the youngest competitor on the senior team and beat the current USA Olympian for the spot.
Everything was falling into place. She began preparing for the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
And then her plans fell apart.
Olympics bound
In 2010, at age 16, Stambaugh tore her right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), a common injury for young athletes.
Her surgery, however, did not go well.
“I knew after the surgery that I wasn’t ever going to be the same,” she said.
Stambaugh rehabilitated her knee and returned to training. Then, she learned the U.S. team had decided not to enter her weight category to the Olympic qualifiers in 2011. Stambaugh understood the decision but was still frustrated.
When the president of the Puerto Rican Taekwondo Federation invited her to join the island’s national team, Stambaugh
“Boy, does that girl have grit. You knock Victoria down, and she comes right back up.” Dr. Walt Lowe, medical director of the Memorial Hermann Ironman Sports Medicine Institute
jumped at the opportunity to represent the place where her parents were born. Once again, she was Olympics-bound.
Then she tore her left ACL. “I told God, ‘I’m quitting,’ ” Stambaugh recalled. “Within a millisecond, a coach came up to me and said, ‘Don’t quit. Don’t give up. You’ll come back stronger.’ ”
She took it as a sign.
When Stambaugh returned to Houston, she was referred to Dr. Walt Lowe, chairman and professor
of the department of orthopedic surgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth.
He also serves as medical director of the Memorial Hermann Ironman Sports Medicine Institute, which helps athletes recover from injury and return to their sports faster.
On Stambaugh’s first visit, Lowe evaluated her left knee and was preparing for treatment. Just before he left the office, Stambaugh asked, “Can you also check my right knee?”
“His face said it all,” Stambaugh recalled. “He looked at his assistant. Then he looked back at me. He said, ‘Your right knee is worse than your left knee. You’re going to need surgery on both.’ ”
She felt relieved. Finally, someone understood.
Setback after setback
Stambaugh was confident she was in the right hands with Lowe.
At the same time, Lowe knew that she would be a perfect patient, motivated and determined