CHENNAI: The synergy between elite athletes and their lungs has been well documented across the ages. If and when that synergy is lost, athletes may never get back to their optimum best. It’s why sportspersons with underlying lung conditions — asthma for example — have to battle extra odds to reach or stay at the top of their game.
In the times of Covid-19, how do affected athletes safely come back and train before returning to competition? The disease itself may have a low mortality rate among the young but the devastation it causes to the lungs, even among healthy individuals, may temporarily halt the careers of athletes. On a day when six of India’s best hockey players continue their treatment in hospital after testing positive for the coronavirus, the answer isn’t simple.
As Bibhu Nayak, the current chairman of the International Hockey Federation (FIH)’s medical and safety committee, says, ‘cardiology and pulmonary opinion will have to be taken before the athletes can be allowed back into the field’. “The return to sport for all affected athletes will be a three-step process,” “ he says. “Returning to physical activity, followed by training before returning to competition.” The three-step process could be a drawn out process over several months, it cannot happen overnight.
As Saif Hasan Naqvi, a doctor who has been on the roster of several IPL teams, explains, this could vary from individual to individual. “It will also depend on the impact that the virus has left on the body, it may vary from individual to individual.” Because this virus is known to leave behind lung damage even among healthy individuals, athletes may never know what shape they are in till they return.
However, because the hockey calendar, at least from an Indian perspective, wears a deserted look, the ones who are affected can take it easy. “There is not going to be much events,” Nayak, who has been to the Olympics as part of the Indian medical team, observes. “So, that sense of urgency may not be there. If there was a tournament around the corner, it would’ve been a challenge.” Naqvi, who has also served as a physio for several ONGC hockey sides over the years, is of the opinion that recovery will be faster if the players visit a respiratory therapist.
“A respiratory therapist will make them breathe better.” After quarantine finishes, the hockey camp for the men’s team will commence on August 20. But for the players laid low by the virus, it’s likely they may not see the turf at least till October. “Make sure that your breathing capacity, lungs and heart are working properly before gradually increasing the workload. In one and a half to two months, they can play with proper force. But if you are down with Covid-19 (symptomatic cases), then the recovery time increases to two to three months.”
Five other players also shifted to hospital
ALL six hockey players who tested positive for the coronavirus will continue their treatment in hospital. A day after Mandeep Singh was moved to a private hospital, the other five players were also moved to the same private hospital ‘as a precautionary measure’, according to the Sports Authority of India (SAI). “The decision to hospitalise them was taken so as to ensure that the players were attended to at all times and could be given the best possible treatment. All six athletes are in good health and recovering well.” ENS