In hopes of third Olympic appearance, Arizona runner battles knee injury
Third time’s the charm. At least, that’s what Devon Allen is hoping.
Allen, the former Arizona state record-holder in the 110-meter hurdles at Phoenix Brophy Prep who went on to win three U.S. championships in the event and make two Olympic teams, is currently recovering from knee surgery. It’s the third time he’s torn his ACL, each time on the football field.
The injury occurred at a late December practice with the Philadelphia Eagles for whom Allen, a wide receiver, has spent time on both the active roster and the practice squad. He ruptured his ACL on a non-contact play on Dec. 22. Not exactly the Christmas gift he was wanting, especially with the Paris Olympics looming on the horizon.
At the recent Devon Allen Invitational meet held at his alma mater, Allen spoke with The Arizona Republic about his attempt to make a third Olympic team and where he is in the recovery process.
“I had surgery to repair it using a hamstring graft,” Allen said. “I used that to repair it on January 5th. So I’m about nine weeks out.”
He was able to recover fully from the first two tears, so Allen’s hoping to do it again for the third time. The recovery timeline is usually six to nine months, but that would cause Allen to miss the U.S. Olympic Team Trials that start on June 21. So Allen said the plan is to push the recovery to four and a half months.
At the moment, Allen said he’s probably at about 90% of his full strength. Allen was walking just fine without any sign of a limp on Thursday at the meet.
“I’m training, lifting,” Allen said. “We just started pylos (plyometrics). We’re getting to some on-land running here probably next week, mid-March. I started running in the Alter-G probably about two weeks ago, at week seven. My rehab is going really well. Progression is going well. I believe I’m gonna be healthy enough in order to compete. It’s just whether or not if I’m going to be fast, back to where I’m at. For me, I’m just going to take my time, focus on being healthy and feeling good.”
Allen has spent the first two months of his recovery in Phoenix, where his family is from. He’s being coached by Jaime Cook, who is the director of track and field at the United States Naval Academy. His therapist is Anna Hartman, a San Diego-based athletic trainer who travels with elite athletes.
He’s now off to San Diego to continue his rehab before returning to Philadelphia. He said he has the full support of the Eagles organziation and even had the head coach reach out to him personally.
“Nick Sirianni called me two, three weeks after my knee surgery, asking me how I was doing,” said Allen, who accompanied the Eagles to Super Bowl 57 in Arizona but was not active for the game. “He said, ‘Hey. We going to make it happen? We going to make the (Olympic) team?’ Those guys know that’s one of my goals. I think it’s important to have goals, to shoot for something. We’re going to do a great job making that happen. I have a ton of resources being a professional athlete. There’s really going to be no stone left unturned.”
Allen, whose personal best time of 12.84 in the 110-meter hurdles in 2022 is the third-fastest ever recorded, already has a qualifying time for the Olympic Trials, but he wants to see competition before that. The goal is for Allen to open up his season on May 25 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, where he starred at the NCAA level for Oregon and is the location of this year’s Olympic Trials. Allen then has the New York Grand Prix on June 9 circled on his calendar.
If Allen were to make Team USA, it would be quite the comeback story. Especially considering his competition in the event with Grant Holloway, Cordell Tinch and Trey Cunningham all performing at a high level. The first round of the 110-meter hurdles is on June 24, which is 171 days from his original surgery date.
He knows what lies ahead.
“With the competition, I’m probably going to have to run 12 seconds in order to make the team,” said Allen, who reached the Olympic finals in both 2016 (Rio de Janeiro, finishing 5th) and 2021 (Tokyo, 4th). “That’s going to be a challenge. But I’m all for it.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Olympian & NFL player hopes for recovery to make Olympic team
