Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics

For now, Solinsky cheering from sideline LUCAS AT LARGE MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM ters, the guest presenter, Chris Solinsky, redirected his atten- tion to the track and the men's 5K. A His eyes were fixed on a rail- thin Wisconsin distance runner, Mohammed Ahmed, who has begun to prove his mettle as a champion. As an 11-time All-American and five-time NCAA titlist at Wisconsin — and the former U.S. record-holder in the 10,000 meters — Solinsky knows some- thing about medals, and mettle. He knows something, too, about Ahmed, who set a McClimon Track record Sunday in winning the 5000 to help lift UW to its 18th Big Ten outdoor team title. "Mo is so tenacious,'' Solin- sky observed. "He's got a lot of features you would hope for in a strength runner. He's got the pump, but he also has the fin- ish. You look at the guy and he's pretty scrawny. It doesn't look like he would have a kick, and he's got a hellacious kick.'' Solinsky exchanged pleasant- ries with Ahmed on the victory stand. "It's awesome to meet one of your idols growing up,'' Ahmed said. Solinsky is 27. If there's any- thing that might be getting old for Solinsky — who's certainly not old by running standards 10 » VARSITY MAY 17, 2012 fter congratulating the Big Ten medal-winners in the women's 5000 me- — it's the questions about his future, which have been brought on by a hamstring injury. Last August, he tore most of the muscles off his pelvic bone. He had surgery in September. "The hamstring is healthy, it's just weak,'' he reported. "The surgery and everything went really well; it healed really well. They said the attachment, the actual surgery site, would be able to handle anything I threw at it after six months. But the "There were a lot of moments where I ques- tioned whether I'd be able to do it again," So- linsky said, "whether I'd be able to run again." muscles themselves have atro- phied quite a bit.'' There was the omnipresent risk that, if Solinksy continued to push forward aggressively in his rehabilitation, "I would have set myself back a whole another year.'' So he stopped pushing and ac- cepted his fate that he would not be able to compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials in late June. London had been more than a dream — it had been a mission; he had hoped to medal. "I'm not going to lie, I'm not going to try and be tough, there were a lot of tears shed,'' Solin- sky confided. "There were a lot of moments through this whole process where I questioned whether I'd be able to do it again (train for the Olympics), wheth- er I'd be able to run again. "I've heard a lot of people say there would be a lot of ups and downs (during the rehab). But I had never been in the position to really deal with it. This is my first big one (injury). I've proba- bly learned more about my body over the last year than I had my entire life. It has been an educa- tion.'' Solinsky started to come to grips with the reality of his situ- ation about six weeks ago — "I saw the handwriting on the wall'' — but it took another three weeks or so before he ruled out the trials. He wasn't in any hurry to get the word out until some- one called looking for an update on his training. That's when he finally got it all off his chest. "It's just bad timing,'' he said. "If it was last year that this (rehab) was go- ing on, or if it was next year, it wouldn't be a big deal. Missing the world championships is not fun, but it's a lot easier than missing the Olympics. "I'm focusing in the next two Olympic cycles (the 2016 sum- mer games will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil); making sure that I can do that. I'm really at

• Cover