Back on Tracks: Running for Her Life, Amandine Has Made It Her Leitmotif
At only 21 years old, Amandine Estival is a model of work and perseverance. At a young age she fought a tumor and is now pursuing her dreams of the Olympic Games alone on the other side of the world.
Running is often considered the simplest sport: it is free, timeless, universal... provided you have the legs to run. Amandine had to live this postulate fully to understand it at a time of life when the perspective of others is sometimes worth more than anything.
How did you find out you were sick?
I discovered my tumor in college. The day before the middle school cross country my knee gave out. I did some x-rays and they didn't find anything special, they just diagnosed me with tendinitis in my knee. Afterwards I continued to complain and had a series of medical examinations. It was much later that the doctors found a bone tumor on my fibula. After several years of suffering during which the tumor sometimes evolved then sometimes subsided, we decided to go through with the operation. Eventually I had a biopsy where doctors scraped the bone and removed the tumor before giving me a bone graft.
You often talk about the importance of psychological support from those close to you. Can you tell us more about it?
From the moment I was diagnosed with the tumor until a few months before the operation, we didn't really experience the disease. On a daily basis I was limited in certain activities but that did not prevent me from living: I could still go to school, hospital appointments were not daily… It was really after the operation that I really needed their support and that I felt their contribution to my journey. Whether it was my parents or my friends, everyone allowed me to believe in it because the operation was a turning point for me: I went from simply not being able to do sport to being able to consider a return on the tracks.
Do you think your tumor played a role in your athletic development?
I really don't think I would be here without this tumor. It educated me, it helped me grow and it allowed me to build a real mindset. I learned to surpass my limits even in pain. Today I'm really happy to have gone through this because I love being able to tell my story and encourage others to go beyond their own limits and get out of their comfort zone.
“I really don’t think I would be here without this tumor.”
You are now running in the United States, what does this new step in your journey represent?
My past is part of me, I have accepted it and it is what makes me who I am today. I know it was hard for me but also for my parents and I have go all the way for me and for them. Now that I am in the United States (ed. Amandine now runs in NCAA D1 for Tarleton University, Texas, Track and Field team) I am certain that I have not reached my full potential. For years, I had to get used to running with pain, and now I have to get used to running without it. I am rediscovering my body, learning to listen to it, and differentiate between pain due to injury or simply fatigue. I am also learning to love athletics again, which I previously associated with my tumor and therefore with negative things. All this takes time and with each session I discover what I am capable of and I am better able to project myself and imagine what athlete I could be in the future.
Photo credits: Tarleton University
What advice could you give to someone going through the same challenges as you?
To dare! We have nothing to lose, we have everything to gain. If I had not dared to go to the United States, today I would no longer do athletics, I am convinced. Mentally I couldn't do it anymore and the fact of completely changing my environment gave me a taste for this discipline that I now practice at the highest level. It’s also important to listen to yourself, first. If I had listened to the doctors, I would never have started running again because it was simply not possible according to them. Deep down I knew it was possible and that I was going to do it. Believe in yourself, dare, and there you have it!
“We have nothing to lose, we have everything to gain.”
What can we wish you for this season?
Here in the States the main objective of each season is the conference championships. My goal is to perform well in my specialties, the 100 meters and 200 meters. Here I also discovered the 4 x 400 relay on which after having done quite a bit of temporary replacement I joined the main team. I'm learning to manage the training pace like the locals since we follow the winter and summer seasons with barely a week's break and especially because I train on many more specialties than before arriving here. My goal is above all to feel good, to adapt and to continue to improve my times. Discovering and learning that’s what matters.