Alina Kenzel is a gifted shot putter. She was World and European Junior Champion, very close to the top of the world. But then Corona comes and her world shakes.
“The left side of my face went numb, my arm went numb. I couldn’t walk up the stairs in the house. I was dizzy all the time. I always felt like I had the flu,” Alina Kenzel recalls dark time that lies behind her. The 25-year-old shot putter suffers from post-Covid. She contracted the virus twice. The competitive athlete coped well with the first infection, but after the second almost nothing worked, as if someone had pulled the plug: “I was very desperate and also had thoughts, could I continue with the sport as I did made it.”
YouTube video from SWR Sport: “Post-Covid: Shot putter Alina Kenzel is fighting for her Olympic participation | SWR Sport”
In one fell swoop, Alina Kenzel’s career is put on hold. Instead of training at the Olympic base in Stuttgart and getting the finishing touches for the next competition, she lies at home for months on the sofa or in bed, she is so exhausted. “That was a slap in the face,” says Peter Salzer, who has been training Kenzel since she was 13 years old. “If your favorite athlete is suddenly gone, that’s tough. You think, well, it might take a month or two, and then the whole season was over.”
Narrowed airways like in an asthmatic
Alina Kenzel rushes from doctor to doctor, but the 25-year-old sports soldier only finds help after a good six months in the Bundeswehr hospital in Ulm. The doctors found her airways narrowed, like those of an asthmatic. The rescue is called “bronchial thermoplasty”. Heat is introduced into the airways by electromagnetic waves.
“What happened is impressive. The airway thickness of the muscles goes back to the level of a healthy person. And also in the mucous membrane, which is thicker and inflamed, we see the nerve cells reduced to the level of a healthy person,” says lung specialist Dr. Daniel Gagiannis, who treats Kenzel in Ulm.
There is finally light at the end of the tunnel for the shot putter from Sindelfingen. “My quality of life has improved significantly as a result. I’m back in training, I can drive and I can go about my everyday life again.”
Kenzel: “I’m just happy”
After a forced break of exactly one year, Alina Kenzel finally returns to the hall at the Olympic base in Stuttgart. “I feel good, but not like I used to. I just need more time. To be honest, I’m just happy that I can do anything again at all, that I have the opportunity to tackle competitive sports again. That’s a lot worth it,” said the shot putter from VfL Waiblingen.
Coach Peter Salzer is in good spirits: “I’m amazed at how far she’s come. They always say that strength has a memory, and that’s how it is. The special strength that’s missing, of course, the special shots. We have them Thank God, the association and the Bundeswehr have promised that she will remain in the squad or with the federal government again next year and that of course gives security.”
In the fall, Alina Kenzel would like to take part in competitions again. There is still a long way to go until then. Alina Kenzel is still with Dr. Gagiannis being treated at the Bundeswehr Hospital in Ulm. In training she fights hard for her comeback. Her big goal is the Olympic Games in Paris next year: “Sure, who doesn’t dream of the Olympics. It would be a huge dream. But first and foremost I’m happy to be healthy – and that’s the most important thing!” After a year of swooning, the laughter is back.
