Sitting in a recovery room last October, his left knee an hourremoved from surgery to repair a torn ACL, John Orozco listened tothe doctors give him a timetable for when he could get back towork.
The usual path to recovery is about a year. If he ''pushed it''there was a chance he could make it back in nine months.
Guess which option Orozco chose?
''I hate waiting,'' Orozco said. ''The longer I wait, the harderit is to come back. I just want to jump right back into it.''
True to his word, the 20-year-old returned to competition duringa qualifying meet in Colorado on July 13, less than nine monthsafter ripping up the knee during the post-Olympic tour. He competedin four of six events, skipping vault and floor exercise to allowthe joint a little more time to heal. He tied for first on thestill rings, an important step as he attempts to resurrect hiscareer. Again.
Orozco shredded the Achilles tendon in his right foot in 2010.He recovered in time to make the 2011 national team that finishedthird in the world championships.
A repeat performance, however, looks like a long shot. Orozcoarrived at the XL Center this week in preparation for the US men'snational championships hoping only to get through the weekendhealthy. Anything else at this point would just be greedy.
And for once, Orozco is OK with diminished expectations.
''I'm going to have a good time for once instead of stressing,''Orozco said.
It's a marked change from Orozco's last major competition. Hearrived in London last summer as one of the linchpin of a US teameager to challenge China and Japan for gold. It didn't happen. TheUS dominated qualifying but bonked in the finals, finishingfifth.
Things didn't get any better for Orozco in the all-around. Hefell of pommel horse early in the night and never recovered,finishing eighth. The stunning result left him angry and more thana little lost. He punished himself by throwing himself back intotraining and attempting what he calls ''crazy'' stunts during theshows, tricks he had yet to perfect in practice.
It ended with him writhing on the ground in agony.
''I was doing all these insane things I wanted to put in myroutine, as soon as possible,'' Orozco said. ''That's the time Ishould have been taking to rest and recover. It was not smart on myend. I'm learning.''
Ultimately, he chose to look at the injury as a blessing. Itforced him to take the breather he desperately needed even if itmeant the gap between himself and teammate and Olympic all-aroundbronze medalist Danell Leyva widened.
Leyva enters nationals hoping to keep Sam Mikulak and JakeDalton from leapfrogging him to the top of the podium. Orozcoenters looking to show the powers that be he deserves to be on the2013 world championship team when it is announced next month.
''You never know what they're thinking,'' he said. ''I just wantto show them I can compete.''
Even if it's not quite on the same level he was at last June,when he mounted a furious comeback on the second day of nationalsto overtake Leyva on the final rotation. The moment is seared intohis memory forever. His mother Damaris shrieked when the winningscore while Orozco buried his face in his hands.
Good friend and US senior national teammate Josh Dixon found apicture taken at that exact instant and posted it in the lockerroom at the US Olympic Training Center to serve as motivationduring Orozco's rehab.
Getting back to such heights might take time. Yet Orozcobelieves the question remains if, not when.
''Sometimes when you go through the competition, the prep time,it feels like you're not going to be ready,'' he said. ''Then atthe last minute everything comes together. I trust in myself. Itrust in my coach.''
By the end of the weekend, he hopes to trust his rebuild knee,too.
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SCHOOL DAZE: Nastia Liukin is five years removed from theOlympic all-around gold medal she won in Beijing and trying to livethe life of a normal college student.
Emphasis on trying.
Liukin completed her first semester at NYU this spring, workinga demanding 18-hour course load in addition to her numerousbusiness commitments. The pace, she allows, might have been toomuch. So is the process of roll call on the first day of class.
Even at a school like NYU, Liukin stands out. There's alwaysthat ''a ha'' moment from her classmates when her name is called.She deals with it by sitting in the back of the class anxiouslywaiting for the moment to pass.
''I just kind of raise my hand and wait for everybody to turnback around,'' she said with a laugh.
The 23-year-old is working toward a degree in sports management.Just don't expect her to become an agent. She's more interested injust learning the business so she can make more informed decisionsabout where to go with her own life.
This week, that life included an induction into the USAGymnastics Hall of Fame. Liukin, four-time Olympic medalist ShawnJohnson and the other members of the 2007 gold-medal winning USworld championship team - Ivana Hong, Alicia Sacramone, BridgetSloan, Sam Peszek and Shayla Worley were inducted on Thursdaynight.
