Dahlia Barnes: US-based national long jumper happy to return from back to back injuries

0
214
cluster
- Advertisement -

By Neto Baptiste

National long jumper Dahlia Barnes, having now fully recovered from back to back injuries, said she is just happy to have been able to compete on the collegiate circuit in 2022.

The 19-year-old athlete, who currently attends the Florida Atlantic University, returned to competition last year after separate injuries in 2021 saw her having to go under the knife on both occasions.

“In 2019 I had an ACL [Anterior Cruciate Ligament] reconstruction and meniscus repair in my left knee and then 2020 I came back, dislocated my knee and had an ACL reconstruction and LCL [lateral collateral ligament] repair.

2 barnes 1
Dahlia Barnes competes in stage one of the Youth Olympic Games held at the Athletics Field, Youth Olympic Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2018 (World Athletics photo)

“I’ve been through rehab and everything and I’d say am back. I’ve been competitively jumping, I had my season, which was last year as my first season back and it wasn’t as great as I would have hoped but you know, after being injured for two years,” she said. 

The injuries resulted in Barnes not being able to meet the qualifying mark for the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya.

The athlete, who spoke on the Good Morning Jojo sports show, said that with 2021 and 2022 now behind her, the main aim is to transfer to a US school with the type of programme designed to propel her into the professional realm.

“I have two more years of eligibility and I am hoping to transfer to a different university, one with a better jumps programme to get me to where I would like to be in the future. My next step would be getting into the transfer portal to be able to transfer to a good school with a better jumps programme,” Barnes said. 

2 barnes 2
National long jumper Dahlia Barnes in studio at Observer Radio (Observer media photo)

Barnes, who is majoring in medicine, however acknowledges the difficult task ahead of balancing a career in medicine with being a professional athlete.

“Yes, I would love to go pro even though I am planning on going to medical school as well. I know it is going to be hard but I would love to go pro eventually and getting back to where I was and even better in the long jump to be able to get a deal so I wouldn’t have to be worrying about paying for coaches and everything, but I am just hoping for a good future,” she said.

Barnes has a personal best of 5.81m in the long jump which she attained in 2018.

- Advertisement -

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

18 − five =