Perez Faces an Off-track Rival 
Ecuador, 28/08/2008. According to his physician, the race walker may undergo another operation for a herniated disk and might have to use a wheel chair.
In each competition in the past two decades, Jefferson Perez was prepared to give his all. For that reason at the end of each 20 km race, the race walker from Azuay province reached the finish line in a state of total exhaustion.
In four of five Olympics, he finished on the point of collapse, and in his debut at the Olympics, he was unable to finish due to the pressure of the pace.
According to his physician, Marco Chango, Perez will pay dearly for that sacrifice. He may suffer osteoarthritis of the knee or degeneration of the knee joint. The possibility exists of more hernias appearing in the spine.
The physician explained that before the Athens 2004 Olympics he performed a series of routine medical and X- ray examinations.
After reviewing the first X-rays of Jeff's back, "I told him he should retire, but he wanted a rematch." In spite of the pain he felt these last years, Perez continued to train and compete.
The consequences, however, could appear over the short or long run. "He will have to use a wheel chair or undergo another operation for a herniated disk." The former was in 1999 in the United States. There the physicians performed a procedure to contain the hernia.
Perez suffers from compression of the vertebrae, which produces pain, lumbago and lumbarsciatalgia. Due to those conditions the sciatic nerve would become inflamed and at times produced a partial paralysis of the leg. According to Chango, "There were times when he competed like that."
Due to the high mileage covered, about 100 miles a week, he will have constant discomfort in the future. That pathology will continue to develop, affecting Perez. In Chango's opinion, "That's the price he must pay for his efforts."
According to the three-time world champion, during his career he represented millions of workers, children, youths and old folk..., who build an Ecuador that is more just and more triumphant. "It was for them that I knocked myself out day after day on the roads and on the track."
Source: elcomercio.com
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