Olympic runner Val Constien chronicles ACL surgery at Vail’s Steadman Clinic in YouTube vlog
Phillip Bond/Courtesy photo
“We’re going to get you back for Paris.”
On May 23, those words calmly escaped from the mouth of Dr. Matthew Provencher, experienced and renowned shoulder and knee orthopedic surgeon specialist at the Steadman Clinic in Vail. On the operating bed that day sat a 27-year-old Olympic runner, her all-important leg muscles marked up with surgery-specific lines and words written in purple ink.
Val Constien’s comeback from injured 2021 Olympic steeplechaser to 2023 U.S. indoor champion was worthy of a Fracture Friday in the Vail Daily last April. A week after signing with Nike, the Battle Mountain and CU alumna made her Diamond League debut in Doha on May 5.
On the second lap of the 3000-meter steeplechase, Constien landed awkwardly in the water pit and collapsed off to the side of the track. Though the European broadcasters covering the IAAF’s top track and field circuit were perplexed as to what happened exactly, the eventual diagnosis would be crushing: Constien had torn her ACL. Season over.
No U.S. outdoor track and field championships. No worlds.
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In a 20-minute vlog uploaded to her YouTube channel 12 days ago, Constien brought fans behind the scenes of her May 23 surgery in Vail, the first step of many back to — hopefully — the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France.
A nostalgic walk on May 22
Cruising down the west side of Vail Pass the day before surgery, Constien opens her first vlog with some injury context. She remembered a meeting with Provencher back in 2016.
“I had some knee problems in college and we met with Dr. Provencher to see if we needed surgery,” she recalled. He explained it wasn’t necessary then. Her chronic patellar tendonitis on the right side, however, was a relevant detail in this surgery.
“Because of that patellar tendonitis, Provencher doesn’t feel super confident about using the right patella to fix the right ACL,” Constien outlined. “So he’s actually going to go in and take a piece of the left patella tendon to fix my right ACL. And, I guess this isn’t an uncommon thing to do.”
When her friend and driver, Kyle, asked whether she was excited for surgery or not, she sarcastically replied, “Am I excited to have my knee cut open and be immobilized for weeks?”
“I think I have to have a good attitude about it,” she continued with a cautiously optimistic smile. “I’m certainly not excited, but it’s something that has to happen in order to get back to doing the things I love to do.”
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At the clinic, a surgery fellow used a knee model and X-ray photos to show Constien just what happened that moment in Doha. First, he pointed out a bone bruise on the front of the thigh bone and the back of the shin bone.
“At a snapshot in time, these two were touching,” he said, gruesomely twisting the model to demonstrate the split second where Constien’s hard-earned winter fitness, summer dreams of global competition, and chance to prove her underdog 2021 Olympic story wasn’t a fluke, all took a hard pause.
“Holy smokes, I’m so lucky nothing else happened,” Constien reacted when seeing the unnatural jarring of the model.
“When we see this, ACL is out, because if it were intact it wouldn’t allow that much motion to occur,” the fellow explained. After being briefed with Dr. Provencher, the pair left so Kyle could get in a run and Constien could take a “nostalgic walk” at Miller Open Ranch, the sight of almost all of her high school easy runs as a Husky.
“Growing up in the Vail Valley, there weren’t a lot of flat dirt paths, … this is one of the only ones we had,” she stated.
“There’s a lot worse places to be getting ACL reconstruction surgery.”
Surgery day
“I’m a little nervous, but I’ll be OK,” Constien answered when asked how she was feeling before surgery. Of course, there was no memory of the procedure itself, but Dr. Provencher himself made a cameo to explain the nitty-gritty to the Olympic-hopeful afterward.
“Everything went fine. Your knee, the only issue was the ACL,” his summary started.
“So, took the other side, contralateral went beautifully. Very good, solid fixations, good reconstruction; no meniscus tears, no cartilage injuries; everything else looked great in there.”
He recommended crutches for a week or two, only as needed. He permitted Constien to put 10-20 pounds on the ball of the foot and said she could bend her knee right away. Meanwhile, the runner was unable to fire her left quad during the four hours she spent in the post-op room.
“Which is a little scary,” an emotional Constien said. “The nerve block will wear off and I’ll be able to walk around; it’s just, it’s just a little scary because I’ve never really felt this feeling before.”
By the time she’d made it home, the pain medication had worn off.
“I’ve heard the first couple days are the hardest,” Constien said, clearly in physical discomfort. “I really just need to be patient and really gentle with my body and be OK when things are hard and when things are painful.”
With much of the swelling dissipated 10 days post-operation, Constien said she’s been feeling better. She chronicled her continued improvement on social media earlier this month.
“Shoutout to Howard Head Sports Medicine in Breckenridge. They helped me take my first steps without crutches or my brace,” she stated. “After PT today, I’m sore but so excited to have some more mobility!”
“It was an honor and a pleasure,” Dr. Provencher closed in his portion of the video, shot right after the surgery.
“Let’s go Paris — it’s going to be awesome.”
