Maxim Tchoudov: I will definitely miss the upcoming season

Three-times world champion, Olympic bronze winner Maxim Chudov who now recovers from backbone injury, declared he will miss the 2011-2012 season.

«I believe it wasn’t until the middle of the season that I understood my injury was something serious. I started having bad sleep at night: I tossed and turned from two to seven in the morning. The guys who lived with me in the same room – Andrey Makoveev, Alexey Churin – will tell you it’s true.

«I don’t want to predict anything now. My back hurts even in everyday life. I bend my neck, try to reach my chest with my chin – and it hurts. Inflammation may be not the only problem. Maybe there is a dislocation or a microhernia.

«Now I undergo a medical treatment course at home, take pills. Massage is strictly contra-indicated to me. The inflamed parts of my body shouldn’t be disturbed. I swim in a pool a bit, work out in a gym in a sparing manner.

«I’m not depressed. I’d just say it’s a pity. I know I haven’t spent one hundred percent of my strength yet. And now, when I’m not so old, I have to switch to the ordinary life. On the other hand, it can be to the better as well. I don’t regret that something is going wrong now. Life always teaches you lessons.

«I can safely say: a will miss the upcoming season. Even if I start training in September, that won’t help. All the main fitness and shooting preparations have to be done in the summer. You can’t make up for it in 3-4 months, even if you’re tenfold Bjoerndalen or Svendsen.

«I would like to say to all the fans who are sincerely worried for me: don’t lose sight of me, for now I do not say goodbye to anybody. I will try to do my best to return,» Chudov said in an interview with the official website of the Russian Biathletes’ Union (SBR).