CFS: A fight of Olympic Proportions
Three Olympic Athletes and how they battled a debilitating disease
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating disease that leaves many CFS fighters bed-ridden and banishes many athletes to the bench. These are the stories of three CFS fighters who overcame their disability to compete at the Olympics.
Their success is inspirational but their battle was by no means easy. Many were told they would never compete again by their doctors. Some of them were forced into early retirement by the disease while others missed out on well-deserved medals. Yet what these three CFS fighters achieved at the Olympics surpassed the glory of gold.
Here are their stories.
Michelle Akers
Michelle Akers was a striker and a defensive midfielder for the US women’s soccer team in the 1990’s.
Akers was diagnosed with chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome in 1994. Some doctors told her to retire but Akers pushed through the debilitating symptoms. There are times when she reported she was unable to get out of bed. She admitted to needing help to get to the bathroom to vomit. And she once collapsed on the field. After every game she would be hooked up to an IV drip.
“The irony of the illness [is], the harder you work, the more it drags you down, the more it disables you.’’
Despite her disease, she helped the USA win the gold at the 1996 Olympics and then went on to help them win the 1999 World Cup. In her career she scored 105 goals in 153 international games. Fifa named her the player of the 20th century.
She retired from her illustrious career just before the 2000 Sydney Olympics but we have no doubt that if she had stayed in the game she would have two gold medals to hang side by side.
Amy Peterson
Amy Peterson was a USA world class short-track speed skater in the 80’s and 90’s.
Amy attended her first Olympics in 1988 when short-track speed skating was still a demonstration event. She went on to attend three more Olympics and won three more medals (a silver in ’92, two bronzes in ‘94). Her lack of medal in the 1998 Olympics in Nagano can almost certainly be attributed to her two year long battle with CFS.
Despite the disabling illness, Amy was determined to make it to one more Olympics.
“The last four years since Nagano have been rocky for me. A lot of days I’d say I’ve had enough. But I knew in my heart and mind if I walked away, I would regret it for the rest of my life.”
In the 2002 Olympics, Amy had the privilege of carrying the US flag in the opening ceremony. It was the last Olympics of her career.
Anna Hemmings
Anna Hemmings is the UK’s most successful canoeist and a two time Olympian.
Anna was diagnosed with CFS in 2003 and was told by doctors she would never race again. She battled with CFS for two years, never giving up her dream of competing in the Olympics again.
“I went from racing two and a half hour marathons in a kayak to not being able to do twenty minutes of light paddling…The muscles in my body ached to the degree where it became painful. In the beginning I slept loads, often for thirteen to fourteen hours a night. During another period I suffered insomnia. And those were just the physical symptoms; the emotional battle was something else.”
Anna went on to compete in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics before retiring in 2009. In her career, she has won eleven World Championship and European Championship medals.
