Women
USA
Katherine Reutter-Adamek
USA- Date of birth30 Jul 1988
- Height170 CM
- ProfessionAthlete
- HometownMilwaukee
- Place of birthChampaign, IL
- Start skatingShe first tried skating with her mother at age four. She took up short track in 2012 at the University of Illinois in the United States of America.
- Club Academy of Speed Skating Excellence: Milwaukee, WI, USA
- HobbiesYoga. (Twitter profile, 15 Nov 2016)
- LanguagesEnglish
- Other nameComeback Queen [after her return to the sport in 2016]. (news-gazette.com, 08 Oct 2016)
- FamliyHusband Mark Adamek
- CoachN/A
- Former CoachN/A
- General Interest
- Sport Specific Information
Go boldly in the direction of your dreams and face failure fearlessly. (Athlete, 09 Nov 2017)
US speed skater Bonnie Blair. (usspeedskating.org, 15 Jan 2012)
Her husband Mark Adamek, and coach Hongyang Wang. (Athlete, 09 Nov 2017)
A concussion meant she was unable to compete at the 2017 World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (olympics.nbcsports.com, 14 Mar 2017)
She has undergone a total of three hip operations during her career. In January 2012 she had surgery on both hips to remedy impingements. Two years earlier in 2010 she had been diagnosed with a torn labrum in both hips and was out for four months. She has also suffered from a herniated disc in her lower back and experienced arthritis in her back and hips. (summergames.ap.org, 29 Oct 2016; espn.go.com, 08 Jan 2012; discmdgroup.com, 07 Dec 2010)
She has undergone a total of three hip operations during her career. In January 2012 she had surgery on both hips to remedy impingements. Two years earlier in 2010 she had been diagnosed with a torn labrum in both hips and was out for four months. She has also suffered from a herniated disc in her lower back and experienced arthritis in her back and hips. (summergames.ap.org, 29 Oct 2016; espn.go.com, 08 Jan 2012; discmdgroup.com, 07 Dec 2010)
To compete at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. (news-gazette.com, 08 Oct 2016)
Winning a silver medal in the 1000m at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. (Athlete, 09 Nov 2017)
RETIREMENT AND COMEBACK
In February 2013 she decided to retire from short track due to the toll the sport had taken on her body. She had had three hip operations and two back injuries by the time she was age 24. After working with a chiropractor who focused on changing her diet, she began to notice the pain in her body reducing. In 2016 she announced she was returning to the sport, and was dubbed the 'Comeback Queen' by sections of the US media. "You do not expect someone who was injured as often as me to come back to their old level, but I feel that I am nearly there." (summergames.ap.org, 29 Oct 2016; schaatsen.nl, 01 Oct 2016; espn.go.com, 05 Feb 2013)
LIVING WITH PAIN
Following the accumulation of injuries that forced her to retire in 2013, she was forced to live with daily pain. “I couldn't sleep, sit, walk or stand how I wanted. I couldn't exercise really at all, maybe once a week. On the bad days, I was lucky if I could get out for a walk. It was intense." (sltrib.com, 10 Nov 2016; salon.com, 29 Oct 2016)
COACHING
During her period away from the sport, she worked as a short track coach for the Academy of Skating Excellence [ASE] programme at the Petit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, WI, United States of America. (LinkedIn profile, 2016; cascadespeedskates.com, 16 Feb 2015)
In February 2013 she decided to retire from short track due to the toll the sport had taken on her body. She had had three hip operations and two back injuries by the time she was age 24. After working with a chiropractor who focused on changing her diet, she began to notice the pain in her body reducing. In 2016 she announced she was returning to the sport, and was dubbed the 'Comeback Queen' by sections of the US media. "You do not expect someone who was injured as often as me to come back to their old level, but I feel that I am nearly there." (summergames.ap.org, 29 Oct 2016; schaatsen.nl, 01 Oct 2016; espn.go.com, 05 Feb 2013)
LIVING WITH PAIN
Following the accumulation of injuries that forced her to retire in 2013, she was forced to live with daily pain. “I couldn't sleep, sit, walk or stand how I wanted. I couldn't exercise really at all, maybe once a week. On the bad days, I was lucky if I could get out for a walk. It was intense." (sltrib.com, 10 Nov 2016; salon.com, 29 Oct 2016)
COACHING
During her period away from the sport, she worked as a short track coach for the Academy of Skating Excellence [ASE] programme at the Petit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, WI, United States of America. (LinkedIn profile, 2016; cascadespeedskates.com, 16 Feb 2015)
She includes weightlifting and yoga in her training regime.
I was recruited by a parent involved in speed skating and never looked back. From my very first day at practice every coach was asking if I had been a figure skater before. When I replied, 'Yes' and asked how they knew they said, 'You skate like one', and that's what motivated me to want to skate like a speed skater.
