Abby Steiner learned to cope with the injury she suffered late last season but once again is having a dominant indoor season. (UK Athletics Photo)
Abby Steiner could not have had a better 2020-2021 indoor track season. She won all five 200-meter events she entered and reset her personal best at each meet. She was NCAA 200-meter dash indoor champion with a time of 22.38 seconds that tied the all-time NCAA indoor record and tied the second-fastest indoor 200 in United States history and fifth fastest in world history.
Steiner was focused on the 2021 Olympics but a unique injury derailed those dreams.
“I had pretty bad Achilles tendinitis. It was just a gradual build-up. I first had issues after the SEC indoors (championship) but just thought it was some aches and pains that would go away. I didn’t really know whether to worry. It just crept up on me and finally got to me,” said Steiner.
Steiner, a senior this season, has never been one to like to take time off. Yet there was nothing she could do to recover but take time off.
“I spent a lot of this offseason doing physical therapy and lifting (weights). Thankfully I was able to join everyone when we started training in September and had a fairly normal fall training,” Steiner said.
She won’t deny how disappointing it was not to have a chance to compete in the Olympics where former UK athletes did extremely well.
“I could allow myself to be upset but that was not going to change anything,’ Steiner said. “I just had to focus on what I could do better. There was no real rehab for this injury other than rest. I went to physical therapy but there was a lot of just taking time off, which was difficult for me. I think it would have been easier if there had been a clear rehab plan. All I could do was rest and let it (the tendon) calm down. I did some cross-training in the summer but mainly I just took the summer off.”
She did watch the Olympics and thought it was “awesome” to keep up with former teammates and NCAA athletes she knew even though she was not in Tokyo competing. Instead, she said it was “cool” to see friends succeed.
One of those friends was Sydney McLaughlin, who won gold in the 400-meter hurdles in a world record time and was also on a winning relay. Steiner started her senior season not only breaking McLaughlin’s school record in the 300-meter dash but broke the 40-year-old NCAA record of 35.83 seconds set by Nebraska’s Merlene Ottey. Steiner finished in 35.80 and her record earned her national athlete of the week honors.
“Training had been going well and I had been itching to run a 300 my whole collegiate career,” Steiner said. “I had never run one for various reasons. My goal was 35 but I was thinking like 35.95. I was a little bit surprised by my time but it’s something me and (assistant) coach (Tim) Hall had been talking about 35 for a long time.”
Steiner knew she likely would not run the 300 again (it’s not an official NCAA or Olympic event) to avoid taking time away from the 200, her specialty. However, she did celebrate a bit.
“My parents were actually able to come to that meet (in Louisville) and watch, which was exciting. They could not come last year due to COVID,” Steiner said. “They drove back to Lexington and we went out to dinner to celebrate. Then it was right back to training.”
And right back to winning also. She ran a world-leading 200-meter time of 22.58 seconds at the Jim Green Invitational hosted by UK. A week later she teamed with Masai Russell, Karimah Davis and Alexis Holmes at Texas Tech to win the 4×400 relay and set a UK record with Steiner and Holmes running the fastest legs at 51.4 seconds. Steiner placed second in the 60-meter dash with a personal best 7.17 seconds — the fourth-best 60 in UK history.
Why is she so dominant indoors?
“I have gotten better with experience. The more I run on indoor tracks, the more comfortable I am. My freshman year I was not confident at all and really did not enjoy running indoors. But the more races I have got under my belt the easier it feels for me,” the UK senior sprinter said.
Steiner, a dual-sport high school star in Ohio who also played soccer her freshman year at UK, wants to defend her SEC and NCAA indoor titles in the 200. However, her injury taught her to enjoy every meet and have fun her senior season.
She monitored her injury all fall and has been pain-free for about three months. She remains “mindful” of the injury but is not letting it impact her training.
Steiner is on track to graduate with a double major in May but has another year of eligibility if she decides to use it.
“Me and Coach (Lonnie Greene) have talked about it, but will just see how this year goes,” Steiner said.
She eventually plans to become a physical therapist and feels she already has a head start on her career.
“I got to learn a lot through the process of my injury. I just kind of look at it as getting a preview of what my career will be like and that gives me a positive to take out of what happened,” Steiner said.
