Wrestling with time

Tough training with a crucial competition approaching, and a knee that simply wouldn’t stop hurting. What to do? One night, Oskar Marvik made a decision – one that would eventually win him a place on the podium. Joining him on the mat: a knee support.

She really didn’t expect that type of call. It was meant to be a peaceful evening on that Sunday in October 2021. Hilde Stette, Field Sales Representative for Ortopro AS, a Norwegian medical device supplier, was enjoying the end of her weekend in her mountain cabin outside Oslo when the phone rang. Oskar Marvik, a heavy-weight wrestler, was on the line. A name that didn’t mean much to her at the time. She could hear worry in his voice. He asked whether she happened to have one of those stabilizing knee supports available. The GenuTrain perhaps? He had just discovered it online on the page of the Bauerfeind distributor. He needed one urgently. His knee, probably the meniscus, was constantly hurting, and he was booked on a flight to a remote training camp early the following morning. “The size of the support isn’t so important, I’m sure it’ll fit,” said the night-time caller.

A giant visits the lodge

Oskar Marvik’s words sounded like this was an emergency. The expert advisor, who also works as a physical therapist, noticed that immediately. Yes, she had a GenuTrain and a GenuTrain S with lateral joint splints on hand. The sigh of relief was clearly audible over the phone. Shortly after, a 1.92 m giant weighing 130 kg arrived at Hilde’s cabin full of expectation. Without further ado, he tried on the supports. It may just work. Yes, there is a feeling of support, and his knee joint definitely felt different. Full of hope, Oskar Marvik said good-bye, leaving with his new training kit to discuss it with his physicians and use it under medical supervision. It was a matter of urgency. “His” competition was taking place just a few weeks later: the World Championships in his own country.

The triple threat: patella, medial collateral ligament, meniscu

“Oskar had been suffering from various knee problems over the past year, culminating just before the World Championships,” reports Jakob Larsen Jørgenvåg, physical therapist for the Norwegian Wrestling Association. “The strain caused by two Olympic Games qualifications, numerous training camps, and the highlight, the preparation for the World Championships in Oslo, turned into a race against time.” As it turned out, the wrestler was suffering from three different conditions: patellofemoral pain, a sprained medial collateral ligament, and most prominently, a tear of the lateral meniscus. Fortunately, “prepatellar bursitis, meaning an inflammation of the small fluid-filled sac in front of the kneecap caused by wrestlers kneeling on the mat, could be eliminated,” explains the physical therapist. It was the meniscus symptoms that caused the most trouble. Toward the end, he was hurting after every session. But what to do considering the tight deadline? Was the World Championships in his home country at risk for the 26-year-old?

Battling family problems

“We decided against surgery, in favor of conservative methods,” says Klaus Johann, Head of the Department of Orthopedics and Sports Medicine at Merzig SHG Hospital. The former physician for the German Wrestling Association knows Oskar’s medical history from joint training camps. “Of course, you compete against each other, but you also often train together, networking with mentors, physical therapists and physicians,” the sports physician explains. Wrestlers are a big cross-border community, often with typical problems that ‘run in the family’. Klaus Johann refers to the “wear and tear of the meniscus” that affects the “Plow”, as Oskar Marvik is known in his home country.

Lifting and swinging with a rotated knee

Meniscus wear and tear is no coincidence. The wrestler’s own body weight is usually enough strain. But if you want to shoulder your opponent, you also have to lift the other person’s weight. “The lifting and swinging techniques while rotating the knee create immense pressure and shear forces that are exerted on the menisci,” Klaus Johann explains. Freestyle wrestlers often have problems with the medial meniscus, wrestlers pursuing the Greco-Roman style, like Oskar, usually suffer from lateral meniscus issues. “Meniscal suturing would have been the last resort,” the German physician reports, remembering discussions with his Norwegian colleagues. But it all turned out differently.

A momentous nocturnal cabin visit

On that fateful evening, Oskar Marvik chose to try the GenuTrain. This knee support is not unknown on the wrestling mat. A lot of wrestlers are wearing one. “Thanks to its pad around the knee and its wings on the sides, the GenuTrain provides the perfect protection, both for the infrapatellar fat pads and the menisci,” Jakob Larsen Jørgenvåg adds. The support’s Omega+ Pad also stimulates both areas with massage nubs made of viscoelastic material. Oskar’s decision proved effective: his lateral meniscus stood up to the task, and the “Plow” achieved the biggest success of his career – the bronze medal at the 2021 World Championships in front of his fellow countrymen. Hilde Stette will remember his name: Ortopro AS decided to support the successful wrestler at least until the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. But perhaps not necessarily in Hilde’s cabin.

Images: Ortopro, United World Wrestling/Martin Gabor