Alexandre Despatie says he suffered a concussion in diving accident
Posted Jun 19, 2012 03:25:02 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MONTREAL – First he didn’t, then he did.
After initial reports Canadian diver Alexander Despatie didn’t suffer a concussion in a diving accident last week, the two-time Olympic silver medallist confirmed Tuesday he did have one.
Despatie hit his head on the board last week in Madrid while training for a Grand Prix event
The 27-year-old from Laval, Que., was hospitalized and required surgery to close a 10-centimetre wound near his hairline.
He returned to Canada on the weekend where he saw a specialist who concluded he did have a concussion.
Diving Canada said in a statement last week that neurological tests showed Despatie hadn’t suffered a concussion.
“They (doctors in Canada) concluded I did suffer a small concussion, but it’s really going very well,” Despatie said Tuesday in an audio clip distributed by Diving Canada. “This morning was the first morning I woke up without a headache which is a very positive sign.”
He has to stay out of the water until his head wound heals.
“I should be able to get back in the pool by the end of next week,” Despatie said. “My next big test is to start back training, physically, see how I react to that. If things keep going the way they are, the team is very optimistic. So am I.”
Despatie was injured while practising an inward three-and-a-half, during which his head spins back towards the board during rotation.
He won silver in springboard at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece, to become the first Canadian male to earn an Olympic medal in diving.
Despite breaking his foot a few weeks prior to the 2008 Games in Beijing, Despatie won silver again.
