Christen Press Of The USWNT Needs Fourth Knee Operation
The USWNT and Angel City player Christen Press revealed on Monday that she would require a fourth operation to fix the damage to her right knee that would prevent her from competing in the Women’s World Cup later this month.
The USWNT and Angel City player Christen Press revealed on Monday that she would require a fourth operation to fix the damage to her right knee
The USWNT and Angel City player Christen Press revealed on Monday that she would require a fourth operation to fix the damage to her right knee that would prevent her from competing in the Women’s World Cup later this month.
In a moving Instagram post, the press described how difficult it has been to rehabilitate from her June 2022 ACL injury.
Press, 34, suffered a right ACL injury playing for her NWSL side, Angel City FC, 13 months before the Women’s World Cup. The press had been clinging to the hope that she would have been prepared for the competition despite undergoing three knee operations in just eight months.
Even though her medical professionals advised her to “let go” of her World Cup ambitions back in February, she clung to optimism. The press only accepted that she and her colleagues would travel together to New Zealand once the roster was made public last week.
The two-time World Cup champion also discussed how odd it is to be in her situation and the conflicting emotions she experiences in her writing.
“For me, the hardest part of recovery has been that I feel misunderstood. In fact, I feel un understandable. I’m not anxious to get back on the field. My identity isn’t lost by not playing. Most days, I don’t even miss it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to get back. That I’m not working every second of every day to return to the pitch. The hard part is: I don’t know what it does mean.”
“My days are mostly good. I’m working toward my goal. And despite the fact that, on paper, this is an athlete’s recovery nightmare, I feel in my heart that to climb the mountain—yes, even one more time—is the dream.”
We don’t frequently hear athletes say things like “the journey is the destination” too often, maybe because many want to succeed and be the greatest in their field. After going through so much, the press is focused on something other than winning or becoming the greatest. Christen Press wants to return to playing football, and part of that desire includes going through the healing process again.
