ST. LOUIS -- Olympic weightlifter Tom Stock won't soon forget the moment his right knee exploded under the weight of 500 pounds, but he is determined the injury will not end his career.
It was Oct. 17 when Stock's quadriceps tendon was severed in his knee during an international meet in Shanghai, China. At the time Stock was attempting an American-record lift of 501 pounds in the clean and jerk -- where the bar is hoisted to chest level then raised overhead.
'I had just made three successful attempts, including two easy ones in the clean and jerk,' Stock said. 'It was one of those days in weightlifting that you dream about. I was having a perfect day on a day of competition.'
But Stock's perfect day turned into a nightmare. Because of the medical facilities, he chose to fly 40 hours to Los Angeles instead of undergoing an operation in Shanghai.
'I wasn't about to have the operation in Shanghai Hospital No. 6,' Stock said. 'I haven't seen anything like that in my life.'
So Stock, flying with his leg in a splint made out of pressboard, endured pain, a swollen leg and the loss of about five pints of blood before he finally landed in Los Angeles.
'The doctors were very shocked to find out that there were no serious complications because of the travel time,' he said.
Stock, who now works part-time as a sales training instructor for a beer company, said the doctors told him his recovery would take a year before he could start lifting again.
'The knee is not 100 percent,' Stock said. 'The doctors said it would take a year and it's coming up on it Oct. 17. I spent 12 weeks in a cast. The doctors are surprised I've mended as well as I have.'
Stock, 29, said he took up weightlifting in high school after realizing he would never advance as a basketball player. He says he is now waiting for the doctor's OK to resume training.
Stock, who won 15 straight international and national meets before the injury -- including three gold medals in the 1980 Olympic trials - wants his recovery to be capped by a medal in the 1984 Olympics.
'I will not go out on a platform again until I'm in shape,' Stock said. 'The doctors have said the knee will probably be stronger than it was before, but I hope they are there with me the next time it goes.
'I would have taken that lift today, even knowing what the results would be. That's what you train for. That's what you're there for. You can't allow yourself to be positively mediocre.'
Stock, who also wants to see some improvement in the provisions for an injured athlete at international meets, said he has regained full range of motion in his knee, the first step on the road to a comeback.
'I'm not going to let the injury be a reason for quitting,' said Stock, a native of Belleville, Ill., who still holds the state high school shot put record set more than a decade ago.
'It will take me three years to get back in shape. I plan to tune up with the Olympic trials and the national championships if my leg is in shape. I'm not going to take chances at a bunch of little meets.
'I could very easily say I've done more than 95 percent of everyone in amateur sports. I've gone out and asserted myself as one of the best five weightlifters the United States has ever had and be satisfied with that.
'But to be that close to being one of the best in the world ... it's like somebody pulled the plug on your dreams. Thirteen years of work, all gone in one tear of a silly little tendon. I have to make a comeback. I have to at least try.'
