LONDON, Ont. — Canada’s Kevin Reynolds is on the mend from a ruptured cyst in his knee that he originally thought would keep him out of the world figure skating championships.
The 22-year-old from Coquitlam, B.C., had just returned home from winning the Four Continents title last month in Japan when the cyst burst during a run-through of his long program.
"I heard a snap, almost a pop in my knee, initially I thought I’d done something internally in my knee," Reynolds said after Monday’s men’s practice at Budweiser Gardens. "Initially I was very worried that I would be out of worlds."
He eased back into training last week and estimates he’s about 90 to 95 per cent recovered.
"With how the practices went today it’s given me a lot of confidence I’ll be able to do well this week," he said.
Reynolds, the perennial runner-up to Patrick Chan at the national level, was just sixth after the short program at the Four Continents last month in Japan, but landed three quads in his free skate to win.
Chan didn’t compete at the event.
Reynolds’ coach Joanne McLeod said the injury was bad timing coming off his performance in Japan.
"He wants to be tough, all athletes want to be tough and they want to punch through, but we had to alter the training quite a bit," she said. "Part of your job is the planning an periodization and looking toward the peak performance. It caused a little bit of fear, but we’re back on track."
The men’s short program is Wednesday.