In the summer of 2019, young long jumper Carl Junior Mireku Boateng seriously injured his foot. The 19-year-old was only able to celebrate his comeback almost a year later. It is the story of will and perseverance.

For Carl Junior Mireku Boateng (Hamburger SV), 2019 could hardly have gone better. Indoor top performance, outdoor top performance and regular jumps well over seven meters. Only participation in an international championship should not yet be successful.

As a medal candidate, he finally traveled to the German U18 championships in Ulm in July, where he wanted to defend at least his second place from the previous year. With 7.34 meters he was even able to put himself at the head of the field in the fourth attempt, but on the fifth jump the big shock follows: When jumping he slipped over the board and got stuck with the spikes in the tartan track. “I immediately felt that my left foot was breaking away inwards. Then I knew it was over. It was pain that I can't even describe, ”he says.

Boateng lay in the long jump pit, his face contorted with pain. "I only knew such horror injuries from YouTube videos and now I had such an injury myself. I was lying in the pit, saw that my foot was turned a few degrees to the left and thought to myself that it will never be again."

My diagnosis was incredible "

Competition judges and paramedics rushed to the Hamburger SV athletes. Meanwhile, the live stream cameras captured different images out of respect for the situation. On the way to the hospital, Boateng learned that in the remaining minutes of the competition no competitor had pushed him out of the leadership position and that he had thus secured the gold medal. But at that moment he couldn't really be happy about it: "In my mind, I was just completely somewhere else."

In the Bundeswehr hospital in Ulm, he finally received the devastating diagnosis: Among other things, a double fracture of the ankle, multiple torn ligaments, torn bones and a dislocation of the foot. “My diagnosis was almost two pages long. It was unbelievable what was there. Everyone who has read this diagnosis has made a face that has shown me that I will never be able to do sports again, ”explains the German U16 champion from 2017. A few days later, he underwent an operation that lasted almost four hours.

The then 17-year-old spent a total of two weeks in the hospital - far away from family and friends. “Sebastian Bayer took great care of me during this time and called me every day. I'm very grateful to him for that, ”says Carl Junior Mireku Boateng about his trainer.

I partly had to learn to walk again

Back in Hamburg, the newly crowned German U18 champion initially had to wear a splint for almost two and a half months. "I also had to sleep with it, that was the worst." But even when the splint was removed, the original everyday life from the time before the injury was unthinkable. “My leg had become incredibly thin, it was like a fresh start. All the stability was gone, I had to partially learn to walk again. That was very frustrating. "

But giving up was out of the question for Carl Junior Mireku Boateng. The great sympathy on social media also gave him motivation. “I received wishes for wellbeing from people I had never seen in my life, and I couldn't keep up with the answers. That showed me what makes sport so special. "

With intensive rehab training, Carl Junior Mireku Boateng slowly fought his way back into everyday life. In February 2020 he was able to complete an easy unit with his training group for the first time. “I was incredibly happy to be wearing sports shoes again and standing in the hall. That was a lot for me. Sure, I don't want to lie. I was also frustrated that I had to struggle with the easiest of exercises. But then I always remembered what the starting situation was like. "

Sebastian Bayer as a great support

During this time, too, his trainer was at his side with numerous discussions, as Sebastian Bayer once had a similar experience as a young athlete and had to fight back after a metatarsal fracture. “Sebastian always told me that if he could do it, I would do it too. We celebrated even the smallest success in training. That gave me the motivation not to give up, ”says Boateng, who will take his Abitur in 2021.

At the end of May, exactly 305 days after the outbreak of the injury, the young athlete was able to complete a technical unit in training for the first time. At the beginning of July, he finally returned to the competition stage: In Berlin, Carl Junior Mireku Boateng took part in his first competition after the injury - and jumped 7.23 meters straight away. “The first question I asked myself was how did I do it. I would have been happy about 6.5 meters and then I jump that. Everyone looked at me and I just thought: Wow, I made it, I really made it! "

Jump foot unchanged despite injury

At the same time, he refuted many a medical prediction. “Immediately after the injury, I was told that I should be happy if I can ever walk normally again. And if I should ever jump again, I would definitely have to change my spring foot. In the end, however, I'm jumping with the same foot again today, ”said Boateng.

The story of Carl Junior Mireku Boateng shows that with will and perseverance, even the deep valleys of a sports career can be traversed. Boateng now has to show that will again. A few days ago he tore a tendon in his right thigh that forced him to take several weeks of downtime. What is particularly annoying is that he had to struggle with the same injury at the end of last year, which has now risen again.
"The serious foot injury now has its advantages"

The planning for the further course of the season has thus been stopped for the time being. And that of all things in his last youth year, in which he could have attacked fully again after the comeback season in 2020.

But Carl Junior Mireku Boateng can draw on the experience of the past few months. “The serious foot injury now has its advantages. That reminds me again and again that you can do anything. I will fight because I love this sport. I will do everything I can to report back one hundred percent. I don't doubt that. "

Culled from leichtathletik