Throwing his personal record at 250 feet, it's hard to believe 22-year-old Devin Bogert threw javelin for years with pain and discomfort.
“It took a couple years to try and figure out what was really going on, it was kind of always addressed as a groin injury and so it wasn't until I saw Dr. Harris that I really focused that it was a hip problem,” Bogert said.
He was performing through a hip impingement, which is an injury on which Dr. Joshua Harris at Houston Methodist Hospital is an expert.
“It’s essentially a square peg in a round hole, so when he would flex his hip and rotate his hip, which is the big important part of his throwing the javelin, it would eventually pinch the labrum between the ball and the socket,” Harris said.
That pinching would manifest as pain, and required surgery.
“We get rid of the impingement, so that means the bump that's on the ball, we actually shave away,” Dr. Harris said.
Bogert pushed through the recovery so successfully, he's one of 24 javelin throwers going to the Olympic trials, where he meets another challenge.
“The top three at the Olympic trials will compete for the U.S. team,” Bogert said.
Only three make it, but with an impressive throw while he was injured, Bogert hopes to peak even higher now that he's healed.
“Being healthy is a way bigger advantage than what I’ve had over the years,” he said.
As the epitome of how to be your best after a sports injury, Bogert shares his secrets to success.
“You have to have a lot of flexibility. So, working a lot of flexibility and also core strength is huge, I have to be able to hold and stabilize those positions,” he said.
“Another big thing is all explosive power… a lot of medicine ball work whether it's doing core medicine ball or you can get great chest workouts in, upper body, lower body, you can really do a lot of things with medicine balls and you don't necessarily have to be in the gym.”
