“It’s really difficult,” said Antje Möldner-Schmidt when asked recently about how it felt to have to give up competing in the sport she loves. It wasn’t cancer that has forced the 2014 European champion to hang up her cleats, but a persistent foot injury that will prevent her from taking part in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, which she had hoped would be the final highlight of her career.
Still, back in 2010 the now 35-year-old Möldner-Schmidt didn’t know if she would even be able to run again, let alone win a European title. That’s the year when the German, who at the time was among the world’s best women in the 3,000 meters steeple chase, was diagnosed with lymph gland cancer.
“After the initial shock, I knew I wanted to get back out there (on the track) quickly,” she said, “I must have been a little naïve. But maybe this helped me to adjust to it more quickly.”
But she wasn’t able to return to the track as quickly as she had hoped, and during her recovery, she wound up having to refrain from all strenuous physical activity.
“I didn’t do anything because it wasn’t offered,” she said.
This is something that she now regrets, since the positive effects of exercise and sports in cancer therapy have since been proven.
European Championship gold
Möldner-Schmidt is far from the only elite athlete who has been diagnosed with cancer. Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, who was later stripped of his titles for doping, long used his fight against cancer as the clean public image he projected. German footballers Heiko Herrlich and Marco Russ have fought their own battles with cancer.
Antje Möldner-Schmidt also managed to make a comeback on the track.
“At the beginning it was very difficult”, she recalled. “I had to take a day or two off between training sessions because my body simply needed more time to recover following the chemotherapy and radiation treatment.”
In 2012 she won bronze in the 3000 meters steeple chase at the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki. Years later, after silver medalist Svitlana Schmidt of Ukraine tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance, Möldner-Schmidt was awarded the silver medal.
Antje Möldner-Schmidt won gold in the 3000 meters steeple chase at the 2014 European Championships
In 2014 Möldner-Schmidt celebrated the highlight of her career, winning gold in the same event at the European Championships in Zurich.
“That was the moment when all of the stress simply evaporated,” she said. “Of course you think of the illness you have overcome, there’s no denying that.”
It was only much later that she was truly able to put her achievements and her recovery into perspective.
“In the aftermath, you deal with it in a completely different way,” she said. “It has certainly made me more sensitive. I enjoy the moment and the time with my family. And I’ve learned to pay more attention to my body better when something doesn’t seem quite right.”
Simply enjoying life
This new perspective seems to have been a major factor in her decision to retire from competitive athletics, although sport will continue to be a big part of her life. Being physically active is also something she would recommend to anyone else who is diagnosed with cancer, because “exercise can be helpful in relieving symptoms during therapy.”
Möldner-Schmidt also believes it is important not to set one’s goals too high.
“It’s important to experience the small successes when it comes to sport and therapy, and to simply enjoy life.”
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Top sports stars who defied cancer
Lance Armstrong
In 1996, then 25-year-old US road race cyclist Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which had also spread to his brain, lungs and abdomen. His doctors gave him little chance of survival, but he went on to win the Tour de France 7 straight years from 1999 to 2005. For years he denied doping claims, but in 2013 he admitted to the use of PEDs and was stripped of all of his titles.
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Top sports stars who defied cancer
Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux is seen as one of the best ice hockey players of all time, having scored 1,723 points in 915 regular season NHL games. Early in 1993, though, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After undergoing two months of aggressive radiation treatments, Lemieux returned to the ice, scoring a goal and an assist in his first game back. He would go on to play eight more seasons in the NHL.
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Top sports stars who defied cancer
Edna Campbell
Edna Campbell became a symbol to survivors of breast cancer during a career in which she played for the Sacramento Monarchs as well as three other WNBA clubs, and the US national team. Since hanging up her sneakers in 2005 she has become a trained nurse and dedicated herself to helping others by founding “Breathe and Stretch,” a health-restoration program for survivors of breast cancer.
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Jon Lester
In August 2006 then-Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma, for which he underwent chemotherapy. In December of the same year, he was found to be free of the disease, and returned to the mound the following spring. Not only did he get the win in the final game of Boston’s 2007 World Series triumph, he also tossed a no-hitter the following season.
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Top sports stars who defied cancer
Matthew Wade
Long before his senior international career, Australian wicket-keeper Matthew Wade was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 16. However, he was able to continue his career after being cleared of the disease following two rounds of chemotherapy. The left-handed batsman has represented his country in test matches, one-day internationals and in Twenty20 matches.
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Top sports stars who defied cancer
Novlene Williams-Mills
Jamaican runner Novlene Williams-Mills (left) competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal in the 4×400 meters relay – despite the fact that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. After the London Games she underwent a mastectomy and a further operation. She has since won a number of medals, including silver in the 4×400 meters relay at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016.
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Top sports stars who defied cancer
Marco Russ
A routine doping test led to Eintracht Frankfurt defender Marco Russ being diagnosed with testicular cancer in May 2016. After undergoing therapy, he made his return to the pitch as a late sub during Frankfurt’s German Cup quarterfinal match against Arminia Bielefeld in February 2017, which they won 1-0. He also appeared in the 2018 German Cup final, in which Frankfurt beat Bayern Munich 3-1.
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Top sports stars who defied cancer
Antje Möldner-Schmidt
German middle-distance runner Antje Möldner-Schmidt, who specializes in the 3,000-meters steeplechase, was diagnosed with a lymphoid cell disorder in 2010. After undergoing treatment and missing the entire 2010 season, she returned to competition at the 2011 German championships, where she finished fourth. She has since won both gold and silver medals at the European Athletics Championships.
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Top sports stars who defied cancer
Heiko Herrlich
Former German international Heiko Herrlich was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in the autumn of 2000. Having undergone successful radiation therapy, Herrlich returned to action one year later. However the forward, who scored 75 goals in 258 appearances for Leverkusen, Mönchengladbach and Dortmund, never returned to his earlier form. He hung up his boots in 2004 to pursue coaching.
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Top sports stars who defied cancer
James Conner
Running back James Conner’s Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis came while he was rehabbing a torn MCL suffered in the opening game of the University of Pittsburgh’s 2015 season. Following 12 rounds of chemotherapy, he was pronounced cancer free a few months later. Conner currently plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who made him their third-round pick (105th overall) in the 2017 NFL draft.
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Top sports stars who defied cancer
Benjamin Köhler
More than half of Benjamin Köhler’s appearances came with Eintracht Frankfurt in both the Bundesliga and the second division. It was after he had moved to Union Berlin that he was diagnosed with stomach cancer in early 2015. Following treatment, he was declared cancer free six months later. He called time on his career at the then second-division side at the end of the 2016-17 season.
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Top sports stars who defied cancer
Max Taylor
One of the latest athletes to have overcome testicular cancer is Manchester United prospect Max Taylor, who was diagnosed with it in mid-2018. The then-18-year-old underwent chemotherapy and surgery, and by last September was again healthy enough to resume training. Although he is yet to make his first team debut, he was on the bench for United’s Europa League match in Kazakhstan in November.
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Top sports stars who defied cancer
Robert Müller
In late 2006, Robert Müller was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Following surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment, he returned to the ice in early 2007, but the tumor continued to grow was diagnosed as terminally ill. Müller made his last appearance for the Cologne Sharks in November 2008. Following his death six months later, Germany’s top ice hockey league retired his No. 80.
Author: Chuck Penfold
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/cancer-survivor-antje-m%C3%B6ldner-schmidt-a-new-appreciation-for-life/a-52252555?maca=en-rss-en-sports-1027-xml-atom