TOKYO — Three weeks after rupturing his Achilles’ tendon at a track meet in May, Christian Taylor was in a hyperbaric chamber when his phone rang. Claye was about to reveal a secret, one that he had kept private for over a year: He had ruptured his Achilles’ playing pickup basketball in 2019. “I’m back jumping now,” Claye told him, “and I know you can do it, too.”Taylor processed the news. Claye had gone through 2020 without competing, and Taylor figured that Claye had taken a sabbatical during the pandemic to cultivate his interests in fashion and music. But suddenly it all made sense: Claye had been grinding his way back from a catastrophic injury, navigating the same long road that Taylor now faced.

Source: New York Times August 03, 2021 18:56 UTC