Lukas Verzbicas...is walking with a walker and learning to walk again...

asdfsadf wrote:

Cycling is surprisingly dangerous but it is crazy that a simple training accident could ruin LV's chances of ever running or riding again.

I hope all you younger dudes who think you are immortal enjoy the gift you have to train hard and run fast, it doesn't last forever and can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye.

Amen. Spoken from someone who lost the "gift." My prayers go out to LV and his family.

Sagarin wrote:

Spoken from someone who lost the "gift."

LOL.

The gift of what? Being a world-class politard?

brogan1 wrote:

Does anybody know the details of his endorsement deals? Does he at least have money that is guaranteed to him over the next few years? It would be a real shame if he has nothing to fall back on. Whether it be money saved up or a college degree.

LV doesn't have any cash deal. It's all free equipment.

The curse of the high school 2 mile record strikes again!

Lindgren: Went crazy, moved to hawaii

Prefontaine: Killed in car crash

Virgin: Olympics boycotted in his prime

Nelson: Injured and bad coaching

Fernandez: Injured all throughout college

Verzbicas: Bike crash, future athletic career in jeopardy?

Why do they even run the 3200 in high school anymore?

The curse is on the sub 4 high school milers.

LV: Bike crash

JR: Fell in Olympics when favorite

JD: Murdered wife and in jail

ML: Injured at Olympics when favorite

AW: Never ran to potential in major races

the sad irony is that one reason LV quit track was because he thought he couldn't compete against the East Europeans. Then London happens, and Rupp and Manzano medal and Meb and Centro almost medal.

Get ReaI wrote:

Two broken vertebrae, 4 and 7, has something like 5 metal rods in his back, pins in his clavicle...and is just walking with a walker and trying to learn to walk again...

For a sobering listen:

http://content.blubrry.com/competitor_radio/8-13-12_Competitors-Lukas_Verzbicas.mp3

I think a lot of that interview is in poor taste.

Is rehashing his athletic progression, focus on his history, asking what it feels like to win or do well at an early age really the right way to interview a kid who doesn't even know if he can live unassisted yet?

Damn, poor kid. Wishin him as quick of a recovery as possible. Sounds like it'll be tough.

I'm not a touchyfeely guy BUT! wrote:

I think a lot of that interview is in poor taste.

Is rehashing his athletic progression, focus on his history, asking what it feels like to win or do well at an early age really the right way to interview a kid who doesn't even know if he can live unassisted yet?

Absolutely. The longer it went on, I'm just thinking, "Did Lukas agree to this? This interviewer is being a huge asshole."

Lukas showed a lot of heart answering the questions straight, but still showing a lot of positivity, which would be incredibly hard to do given the facts. I understand now why there was a two week blackout on news about the incident. It was much more serious than most would have guessed.

Best of luck, Lukas. Here's hoping for a full recovery. Cheers.

My heart really goes out to LV. To the jokers and haters, there is a time and place for that (plenty of opportunities on other threads) and this thread here isn't it. Seriously, I don't like being preachy but this is kind of bad. Maybe you've had some lousy breaks in life and are jaded or something, but going over the line when an athlete may be paralyzed...that's not good...so with all due respect some of you might want to check your filters.

Altrunner is that 5k runner finishing in 40 minutes. I know him personally.

Obama2012 wrote:

Sagarin wrote:

Spoken from someone who lost the "gift."

LOL.

The gift of what? Being a world-class politard?

The gift of health, which you take for granted. Oh yeah, I had some untapped talent too, but, in the grand scheme of life, who cares? There's way more to life than running. Even LV acknowledged that in his interview. He's thankful to be ALIVE.

This is painful to look at!

http://t.co/IhA11zsg

ducksoup1 wrote:

The curse is on the sub 4 high school milers.

LV: Bike crash

JR: Fell in Olympics when favorite

JD: Murdered wife and in jail

ML: Injured at Olympics when favorite

AW: Never ran to potential in major races

The sweet spot is the 4:01 highschool mile. Willis silver 1500m, Rupp silver 10000m.

He should have stayed at Oregon...

brogan1 wrote:

Does anybody know the details of his endorsement deals? Does he at least have money that is guaranteed to him over the next few years? It would be a real shame if he has nothing to fall back on. Whether it be money saved up or a college degree.

Almost guaranteed that his current sponsors will not drop him. LV is worth just as much now as before. If he can be the comeback kid, which I sincerely pray he can be, then he'll be worth even more. Plus it looks pretty douchy to drop a hurt athlete. And in this day and age simple results matter less than marketing potential. Look at Lolo. She's making 3 times as much as the gold medal winner. Lucas's story is now worth a lot.

Best wishes to you Lucas! I hope to see you crush it in Rio!

seriously messed up. I hope those opposed to stem cell research might reconsider. He was just beginning to get his feet wet as a really good triathlete. It seems unreal.

At least he is not paralyzed, and, more importantly, he is young which means he should have many years to become competitive again.

nathan jessup wrote:

..word up. You're not safe either running or cycling!!!

The roads are littered with douche-bags that are texting, yapping, and simply not paying attention!

A 2,000-4000lbs. auto, SUV, truck will win every time!!!

If only LV had stayed in school, Oregon or anywhere else...we wouldn't be reading this tragic story.

If you can find a trail or park or nature preserve to run, stick with it. The streets are harder on your joints in addition to being more dangerous, Trail running is where its at assuming its not some ridiculously hazardous trail. Im fortunate to live near a 2 mile trail designed for walking with different exercise stations along it, and covered with woodchips.