World No.3 Mika Noodt has opened up on the psychological trauma he suffered after his horror crash with an ambulance while leading IRONMAN 70.3 Swansea in early July, admitting that “some nights are still pretty rough” despite making encouraging progress in his recovery.
The German suffered a small fracture and plenty of muscular damage in the freak accident, which brought an abrupt end to what looked set to be a dominant victory in the IRONMAN Pro Series race.
Now, almost a month on, the 25-year-old has revealed he is back riding outdoors and making positive strides both physically and mentally after several weeks of rehabilitation.
‘Some nights are still pretty rough’
In a video update posted on his social media channels, Noodt admitted his biggest challenge has not only been recovering physically but also processing the psychological impact of the accident.
“As you can see, I’m back on the bike, which feels very good and it does feel more natural again,” he said.
“The first ride back, I was super tense but now it’s getting a lot better.
“I confronted myself by getting back on the bike and by talking through everything that’s happened with my psychologist, family and friends.
“So currently I don’t struggle with it that much anymore throughout the day.
“Just some nights are still pretty rough.”
Noodt added that, while he is making clear progress, the mental recovery has been far from straightforward.
“With all psychological things, it’s not like it’s a linear progression upwards. It’s more like up and down, but I’m definitely trending in the right direction.”
In an earlier update seven days after the crash, embedded below, he described just what an understandable struggle this was initially.
Physical recovery progressing well
While acknowledging the emotional side of his recovery is ongoing, Noodt said the physical rehabilitation has followed a much more predictable path.
“The physical side is going very well, like linear upwards.
“I’m able to walk pain-free again, riding the road bike is also nearly pain free, I’d say.
“We’ve done a lot of rehab work in the last three weeks and now I’m currently visiting my family to recharge mentally.
“Then I’ll head south again, this time to the APC [Athlete Performance Centre] at Red Bull, where we’ll continue the rehab process.”
The crash brought an abrupt end to what had promised to be another impressive performance from one of the sport’s top middle-distance athletes.
Noodt is currently third in the PTO world rankings despite racing only twice this season, finishing third at the Singapore T100 before 70.3 Swansea.
The German had opened up a lead of more than four minutes on the bike in Wales with just 10km remaining before colliding with the ambulance which was responding to another incident involving an age-group athlete.
Judging by this latest update, however, hopefully one of triathlon’s brightest talents is firmly on the road back.
