Aberdeen’s Kirsty Muir is determined to stay positive after the injury heartbreak that ended her season on the ski slopes.
The 19-year-old Winter Olympian sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury and meniscus damage to one of her knees at the Freeski Big Air World Cup event in Copper Mountain, Colorado, in December.
Although she crashed during the event, Muir secured a place on the podium by finishing third, but that jubilation soon turned into despair as scans showed the true extent of the pain she was feeling.
“It wasn’t expected,” explained Muir.
“After I landed my first run, I felt a bit of pain at the back of my knee. Later on, I found out I tore my hamstring and something to do with my PCL (posterior cruciate ligament).
“On the second run, I crashed and I was in a bit more pain, but once I got off and was at the side of the slope it eased off. I could do everything, was testing it and felt fine.
“I decided to do my third run and managed to get on the podium, but then got home, got an MRI scan and was quite shocked at the results.”
The devastating ACL blow, Muir admits, has still not sunk in as she recalls how she felt when she was first told the news.
“I broke down pretty much straightaway,” added Muir. “You just can’t hold back the tears at that point.
“Skiing is my whole thing. It’s my job and it’s what I love doing, so knowing that you are going to be out for a while, it was really not a good feeling.”
Surgery delay a hiccup in Muir’s ACL recovery
Muir’s recovery from injury did not start smoothly as her knee surgery in London was postponed due to testing positive for Covid-19 while in the hospital.
Protocols meant she has had to wait a fortnight until it could be rescheduled, but the road to recovery will finally start this weekend as she is due to get surgery on Saturday.
“It just feels like everything is not really on my side right now,” said Muir. “I’m trying to stay positive.
“My coach keeps saying that he genuinely believes everything happens for a reason, so I’m trying to stay with that.
“Maybe the extra two weeks after the postponement means I will get stronger in the gym and that will help in some with the rehab.
“You have to keep being positive and keeping have the people around you that makes you feel good.”
Getting to do sessions in the gym has been a lifeline for Muir since sustaining the injury, as she explained: “I’ve been super lucky in the sense that I am able to do everything that I was before the injury.
“I’m squatting the same amount of weights. I love the gym anyway, so it has been good to keep doing that.
“The gym makes me feel good because I can see that I am a really strong person and that has been really helpful during this.”
The injury came in the midst of an impressive start to the season as Muir secured a first-ever podium finish in a World Cup event, finishing second in Beijing, before scooping bronze at Copper Mountain.
“I was so happy with where I was with my skiing, both physically and mentally,” said Muir.
“I felt really good and I was happy with my consistency. I had done three competitions and finished second, third and fourth.
“I was really excited for the rest of the season and where that would go, but then the injury happened.
“Even with the injury, looking back, I’m still happy because even though I’m out for the rest of the season I still showed some really good skiing.
“I also know that when I come back, I will push on and do my best to get back to that point again.”
Muir eyes comeback ahead of Winter Olympic qualifiers
Muir is already eyeing a comeback later this year and hopes to be back to her best when qualification for the 2026 Winter Olympics takes place.
If she was to qualify and be selected for Milano-Cortina in two years’ time, it would be her second Olympics having been Team GB’s youngest athlete at the last edition in Beijing.
“If it had to happen then this was maybe a good time for it to happen because I should, hopefully, be back for when qualification properly gets under way,” said Muir.
“The first competition is in New Zealand around August or September – and, at the moment, the aim is to be back on skis around about then.
“Hopefully, I will be able be back for the competitions next season and push for Olympic qualification.
“I’m really sad to miss the rest of this season, but I feel ready to push and work hard to get back for the start of the next one. We will see how it goes.”
There are already feelings of trepidation, Muir says, about returning to an extreme sport from such a serious long-term injury.
But she knows she cannot afford to let those thoughts take up too much of her head space, as she added: “It’s definitely a thought, but it is one I’m trying to keep out of my brain a bit.
“If you stress too much about that then you will always have that as a limitation when you get back.
“It is an extreme sport – there is always a risk, but I’m trying to not think about that.
“Hopefully I can get through all the recovery and it (her knee) is super stable when I am ready to go again.”
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