Don’t stop: Canadian short track champ Steven Dubois pushes through injury toward Olympics

For someone considered one of the fastest short track speed skaters in the world, Steven Dubois was in unfamiliar territory at the beginning of this critical Olympic season.

He had to stop.

The 28-year-old from Terrebonne, Que., skated to four world championship titles for Canada in the spring, but by the summer he was hampered by a leg injury.

“[Pain] was radiating in by the adductor muscle. We spend our time in a bent position, so it was kind of pinching and not very nice in the general [leg] area. It was a bit of a struggle for, maybe, six weeks leading up to the Canadian championships,” Dubois said.

By the time he arrived at that event in late August – the unofficial start of the season – Dubois’ condition deteriorated to the point where he couldn’t race.

“I wanted to try the competition anyway and then the first day we kind of decided it was not really feasible or actually possible to race in my top condition,” he said.

Canada’s Steven Dubois captures 500m gold at short track worlds

An MRI revealed the extent of his injury: a partial tear in the labrum of his hip. That ring of cartilage lines the hip joint socket and cushions the joint, acting like a rubber seal to connect the thighbone securely within the hip socket. Dubois thought his season – headlined by the Milano-Cortina Olympic Games – was in serious jeopardy.

“I was sad…it was the first actual injury I’ve had in my career, so I’ve been pretty lucky with that. I’ve never missed a competition. I’ve [fallen], I’ve been hurt, but not to a point where I actually felt the need to stop,” the three-time Olympic medallist said.

“So, it was a very emotional blow. It took a lot for me to actually stop the competition.”

Dubois will be in action with his Ice Maples teammates this weekend in Gdansk, Poland and next weekend in Dordrecht, Netherlands, but it took a lot of work for him to get back into form.

CBC Sports will stream the short track World Tour events live on the CBC Sports website and on CBC Gem. Full details on when and how to watch can be found on the CBC Sports broadcast schedule.

He began the recovery process with a cortisone shot to reduce inflammation around his hip, but Dubois had to take about two weeks away from on-ice training. When he eventually returned to the rink, he was still forced to alter his training which led to a stressful few weeks as the World Tour season drew closer.

“It was to the point where I wasn’t doing any volume on the ice or longer laps I was doing just fast laps…and couldn’t do any starts,” Dubois said. “Also, I’ve just come back from being a world champion in the 500m, and I couldn’t do any fast starts or anything specific to work on that.

“It’s one of those injuries where it can take a few months and you never know if it’s gonna come back. I’ve never been in a recovery program or anything [before]. So I was scared a bit, and I still feel it now, but it’s way more manageable. I know I’ve dealt with it [at] the competition, so I know I can do it. But it was a stressful few weeks.”

Michael Gilday, two-time short track world champion and CBC Sports speed skating analyst, says Dubois’ explosive starts and top speed are what set him apart from other skaters – attributes directly impacted by the injury he suffered.

“Steven is one of the most elite short track speed skaters in the world. He has a unique ability to accelerate to top speed that serves him very well in the 500m, and allows him to make race winning passes from the back of the pack, especially in the late stages of any race,” Gilday said. “He will be a top contender for podiums in Milan.”

Gilday believes that coming back from an injury isn’t just about the physical recovery, it’s also eliminating the doubt that creeps into the athlete’s mind.

“Injuries are always a challenge… I think the hardest part from an athlete standpoint is it leaves you questioning a little bit. You just don’t know, because the part that you can control is how much training and how you’re doing,” he said. “You can control your own body, and you control what you’re doing and how you’re recovering, but you can’t know what all of your competitors are doing.

“So that can play into your head a little bit.”

Dubois said he had doubts, but those were eased by his results from the first two World Tour events in Montreal in October, coming away with five medals in total.

“The first weekend was a bit tough. I was just trying to find my way back into racing,” Dubois said. “I got the bronze in the 500m, and I was super happy with that.

“One thing that was stressing me, it was like doing an actual 100 per cent start. I put myself into a position where I needed to do one in the quarterfinals in the first weekend, and everything went fine. I think that was one of the most relieving moments of that weekend for me, just [knowing] I can actually [go] 100 per cent, and not be scared that my body would not hold, and then I managed to get a medal following that.”

Steven Dubois on overcoming injury to claim 500m short track bronze medal

What made that more impressive was that not only was Dubois looking to recapture his form, he faced down some additional, Olympic-sized pressure.

“It’s also so stressful because we have to qualify the [Olympic] spots…so there was more than just coming back and racing that was involved, there was a lot of performance pressure as well,” he said. “I think I did amazing; a medal in every distance. It’s super good for me.

“There’s a lot of confidence that I got from those two [World Tours]. Bit of a relief, actually, to get through those races without any issues.”

Those results weren’t only positive for Dubois, they were a boost for the Canadian team as a whole, considering the pivotal role he plays for the men’s and mixed relay teams.

“That combination, there aren’t many teams that sort of have a weapon like that. So from a relay perspective, he’s extremely valuable to the team.”

Dubois is proud of his individual accomplishments, but the relays – including the gold he helped Canada win at the Beijing Games – hold extra meaning because of how close-knit the Canadian team is.

“You share the moment with your team and these guys and girls. We train six days a week, and we see each other every day, so it’s basically a family,” he said. “Sharing these moments with these people makes it so much more special than just getting an individual medal.”